The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Jerusalem

Israel said significant progress was made on the thorny issue of drawing up the borders of a future Palestinian state during top-level talks on Monday, although the Palestinians remained cautious.

We have made significant progress on the two issues of outlining the borders of the future Palestinian state and the security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinian state," a senior Israeli official said.

On the heels of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the official spoke to journalists after attending a two-hour meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. "Olmert and Abbas have instructed the negotiating teams to move forward on these issues," he said, adding that "the teams were already working with maps during the talks." Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat agreed the talks were "very serious" and "in-depth."