Arafat Says No Date Set for Meeting With PeresPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who made a few hours stopover at the Cairo airport after concluding his Asian tour, said on Sunday that a date has yet to be set for his meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on the current spiralling Mideast violence."We are waiting for the European move and the response of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer who called for this meeting," Arafat told reporters after his talks with Osama al-Baz, political advisor of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. There was "a global stance" that existing agreements, including the Mitchell report, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan and an Egyptian-Jordanian peace initiative, should be implemented, Arafat said, adding that such agreements are aimed at ending the Israeli- Palestinian violence and resuming peace negotiations between the two sides. Baz said that he had reviewed with Arafat the latest developments in the Mideast region and briefed the Palestinian leader on his recent visit to the U.S.. Baz led a high-level Egyptian delegation to Washington last Monday for talks on how to deal with the tense situation in the Mideast region, which has been witnessing continued bloodshed between the Palestinians and Israelis since last September. The situation will become "worse" without firm intervention of the international community, Baz said, calling on the U.S. to help stop Israel from holding the Palestinians responsible for the violence. Egypt has been pushing the U.S. administration for months to intervene more actively to help break the cycle of violence and resume peace negotiations between the two sides. Arafat made the stopover after ending his Asian trip to India, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh to rally support for the Palestinian cause. He has headed back to the Palestinian city of Gaza. |
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