Arafat Leaves for New York for UN Millennium SummitPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat left Gaza Monday for New York to attend the United Nations Millenium Summit.The Palestinian delegation will demand the final statement of the summit provides for the Palestinians' rights to self-determination and the rights of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations Nasser al-Qudwah has said. On the sidelines of the summit, Arafat will meet US President Bill Clinton on the efforts to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and the ideas recently raised by US Mideast peace envoy Dennis Ross who has just ended his two-week Middle East tour. Clinton will also meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in New York. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat denied on Monday there were any arrangements for a trilateral summit. In New York, Arafat is also scheduled to meet Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. |
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