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Arafat-Clinton Talks Ends with No Results
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat concluded his talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton on Thursday without any results.
After shaking hands with Clinton and saluting him at the White House door after more than tow hours of the talks, Arafat told reporters in a driveway that he raised his proposal to set up an international force to protect the Palestinians from Israel as a way to curb the wave of violence in the region.
He did not say how Clinton reacted, but the State Department has dismissed the idea all week long.
With regard to U.S. criticism of his lack of effort to end the six-week violence, Arafat told reporters: "I am not the one who initiated the violence."
"My tanks are not besieging Israeli towns," he said.
And yet, the Palestinian leader said he had told Clinton he was committed to making peace.
"I reiterated my full commitment to making peace" in the Middle East, he said.
Arafat condemned the Israeli military's killing of Hussein Abayat, one of his Fatah leaders, calling it a "dangerous development."
Washington declined to condemn Israel's killing of Abayat, only saying that the attack by the Israeli military raised "serious issues."
"The incident today does raise serious issues," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
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