Israeli killed; Palestinian militant dies

The Associated Press

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian militant was killed Sunday when a bomb he was making exploded, Palestinian security officials said, and an Israeli was shot dead northeast of Tel Aviv in what police suspected was a Palestinian attack.

The incidents came as Secretary of State Colin Powell met in New York with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who is working on a new peace initiative that calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in areas under Palestinian control as a first phase.

Peres discussed the plan Saturday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose stated positions contrast with elements of the plan reported in Israeli media, namely that the Palestinians be granted more land in the Gaza Strip and West Bank as part of negotiations over final borders.

Peres, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly's annual debate, said he and Powell discussed the overall situation in the region but didn't formally present his plan because it hasn't been approved by the government.

"Things are not static, but there are still a lot of difficulties," Peres told Israel's Channel 1 television.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in an address Sunday at the United Nations, condemned "all forms of international terrorism and state-organized terror."