Arafat to Update Mubarak on Talks With ClintonPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat Thursday will brief Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his talks with US President Bill Clinton in Washington on the US peace proposals for a final settlement with Israel, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported Wednesday.Arafat has left Washington Wednesday for Cairo to meet with Mubarak and foreign ministers of the Arab League, the agency said. Arafat held talks with Clinton on Tuesday, dealing with the clarifications raised by the Palestinian side as regards the U.S. peace plan. Foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian National Authority, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia will meet in Cairo on Thursday to unify the Arab stance on the issue. The Palestinian leader will also submit a detailed report to the meeting about his talks with Clinton. Palestinian officials said that the Arafat-Clinton meeting ended without reaching an agreement. Nabil Shaath, Palestinian minister of international cooperation, said Wednesday afternoon that the Palestinians will not announce their decision on the U.S. peace proposals until they meet with the Arab foreign ministers. Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jake Siewert said in the day that Arafat has given conditional acceptance to Clinton's proposals as a basis to restart Mideast peace talks. The outgoing U.S. president presented a compromise plan on December 23, which will give the Palestinians sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods and the Al Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, but deny the Palestinian refugees' right of return. Under the plan, Israel will have sovereignty over the Wailing Wall, the holiest shrine in Judaism, and part of the Armenian quarter in the Old City of East Jerusalem. Israel has accepted the proposals in principle while the Palestinian leaders have expressed deep reservations over them. |
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