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Palestinians Ready to Consider U.S. Plan: Arafat
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said on Sunday that the Palestinian side is to ponder over the U.S. proposals aimed at pushing forward the Middle East peace process.
Arafat said after talks with Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben-Ali that "We are ready to discuss U.S. President Bill Clinton's proposals. I informed President Ben-Ali of this desire in order to help us push the peace process forward."
In response to Clinton's invitation to Washington, Arafat said " I am fully ready to visit you in the White House if you do not mind to consider the initiative and exchange views to develop it."
"The main points include Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees have been decided at the summits of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference, along with other Christian and Islamic sites," he pointed out.
According to the U.S. proposals, if agreed upon, the Palestinian side will regain sovereignty over the Al Aqsa mosque compound and Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and retrieve 95 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of Gaza Strip in exchange for the non- return of the 3.7 million refugees displaced since the 1948 Israeli-Arab war.
Arafat concluded his two-day visit to Tunisia and traveled on to Egypt Sunday afternoon.
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