Tsering Tashi, the joint secretary in the Office of the Dalai Lama, said: "The Tibetan side is confident that President Jiang Zemin seems to be taking a very reasonable approach." Mr Rinpoche said: "We definitely noticed that ... Mr Rinpoche said: "His Holiness has expressed his desire to visit China's holy mountain, notwithstanding the political situation, if China allows. But he added: "The Dalai Lama has never questioned or challenged the principle of One China theory."Whether Peking is really weighing up the propaganda merits of a pilgrimage to Wutai Shan, an important site for Buddhists, at some point by the Dalai Lama is unclear. this is a question to be decided by China and Taiwan, and His Holiness has no right or anything to say about their political status". Under such a system Peking would retain control of foreign affairs, defence and "larger industry and economic questions".The Tibetan side does not, however, accept China's view of Tibet's history, which is that Tibet was always part of China.

Mr Rinpoche said: "We cannot rewrite history."Taiwan may prove another sticking point Mr Tethong said: "His Holiness has stated very clearly ... The Dalai Lama's position is very clear, that he is not demanding independence, and he is not demanding separation from China. He is only demanding genuine and practical autonomy, while accepting China's sovereignty over Tibet."Mr Rinpoche said the one country, two systems model used with Hong Kong could be suitable for Tibet. Samdhong Rinpoche, the speaker of the Tibetan exiled parliament, said yesterday: "As far as today is concerned, Tibet is in reality an inalienable part of China That is a fact. The planned statement was "going to be a very positive response to the Chinese President's gesture" and the Tibetan leader would reiterate his existing position "in a more friendly, conciliatory tone".The Dalai Lama dropped the demand for Tibetan independence in a speech in Strasbourg in 1988.

He is due to meet President Bill Clinton early next week and will discuss the statement and China's likely response to it.Peking yesterday called on the US not to meet the Dalai Lama, whom it accused of "using contacts and negotiations with the [Chinese] central government as a pretext to launch propaganda and sway public opinion". The Chinese authorities also attacked him for "lack of sincerity".It was during Mr Clinton's press conference in June in Peking with President Jiang Zemin that the Chinese leader said the door to dialogue and negotiation on Tibet was open, "as long as the Dalai Lama can publicly make a statement that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and he must also recognise that Taiwan is [a] province of China".Mr Tethong said the Dalai Lama would not offer any new concessions. We never trusted him and we've now received further proof that we were justified.". THE DALAI LAMA is preparing a "friendly and conciliatory" statement on Tibet's status within China, in a finely tuned attempt to restart negotiations with Peking. Aides to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader say he will publicly reaffirm his acceptance that Tibet is part of China and that he is seeking autonomy, not independence, for his Hima-layan homeland. The Dalai Lama, who has not set foot on the Chinese mainland for four decades, is also saying he would like to make a religious pilgrimage to the central Chinese holy mountain of Wutai Shan. A senior US State Department official was quoted in the Israeli press as saying of Mr Netanyahu's refusal to convene the cabinet: "Netanyahu is playing tricks so as not to implement the agreement. But by allowing ministers opposed to the agreement such a significant say in its implementation the Israeli leader is further poisoning his relations with the Palestinians.The US has largely supported the Palestinian position on the timing of the arrest of 30 Palestinian suspects, which led to Israeli delays in ratification.

One of them, Rafael Eitan, the Agriculture Minister, once referred to Palestinians as "cockroaches".The committee will meet over the next three days and hear representations from experts and Jewish settlers on the West Bank.Mr Netanyahu wants to associate opponents of withdrawal with the land- for- security deal reached in Wye, Maryland, last month. Given his past record, he'll use these weapons," Mr Cook said.. THE ISRAELI cabinet finally began its long-delayed debate yesterday on the ratification of the United States-brokered agreement with the Palestinians under which Israel will make a limited withdrawal from the West Bank in return for security guarantees. A majority of Israeli ministers are expected to agree to the deal, but doubts over its implementation increased yesterday when Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, established a special committee to examine the maps delineating areas to be handed over to the Palestinians. The committee of six ministers, headed by Yitzhak Mordechai, the Defence Minister, includes three who are opposed to any withdrawal at all. Strenuously though Mr Cook denied it yesterday, a whiff of double standards is in the air - with Iraq being held to strict UN resolutions while Israel blithely ignores them. But it was "grotesque" to compare "democratic debate" in Israel to the situation in Iraq, he said.President Saddam retained the capacity to build chemical and biological weapons, and had managed to load a nerve gas weapon into a missile warhead "The evidence is there before us, and we cannot walk away. But he said "substantial sums" were involved.The burden of his argument in Middle Eastern capitals this month will be that Western actions are not aimed at Arab countries.