Clinton, Arafat Hold Talks

PALESTINIAN LEADER Yasser Arafat had a telephone discussion overnight with US President Clinton to discuss the status of the peace process, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported today.

Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina, cited by Wafa, said Clinton had expressed US support for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which are due to start up again in the US on Tuesday.

The US State Department announced yesterday that negotiators from both sides would meet in Washington in an effort to hash out the most difficult remaining issues dividing them in order to meet a September 13 deadline for a permanent accord.

The talks are set to re-open after weeks of acrimonious deadlock over a long-delayed handover of 6.1 per cent of West Bank land and the failure to meet a mid-February deadline for a framework final agreement.

 

That handover dispute was resolved on Wednesday when Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Cabinet approved maps for the withdrawal.