A report by the Israeli Haaretz newspaper said on Sunday that US President George Bush is likely to meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat if several US pre-conditions are met by the Palestinian leadership.
The two leaders may meet during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York at the end of the month.
Conferring about the Middle East impasse during a White House meeting last Friday, US officials gave the nod to the proposed meeting.
Since becoming president, Bush has not met personally with Arafat; the two have spoken on the phone a few times.
Officials at the White House consultation on Friday, decided to make the Bush-Arafat meeting conditional upon the PA leader's compliance with a few demands, said the paper.
Most importantly, Washington wants Arafat to prove that the PA is taking steps to implement the Tenet plan.
Under the plan, Arafat is to act against what Israel and the US call “terror suspects,” and clamp down on violent incitement.
In addition, Washington has made the Bush-Arafat meeting conditional upon the resumption of CIA-mediated security contacts between Israel and the PA, and also the convening of the much-anticipated talks between Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in coming days or weeks.
Officials in Washington are hoping that a Bush-Arafat meeting would dispel concerns and accusations in the Arab world about biased American policy in favor of Israel.
The UN assembly is scheduled for September 23.
Peres and Arafat will be on hand, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to pay a brief visit to New York on that day, to take part in a mass pro-Israel rally to be staged by Jewish organizations, said the paper.
Meanwhile, Peres said Sunday there were no preconditions on his expected talks with Arafat, whose date has yet to be fixed.
"This meeting must take place without preconditions, because it is impossible to negotiate when there are conditions," Peres told Israeli public radio, cited by AFP.
The aim of the talks, which could take place this week, is to try once more to end nearly a year of bloody violence in which more than 770 people, mainly Palestinians, have been killed.
Peres insisted that Israel was only launching operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip when it was forced to respond to Palestinian attacks.
But he confirmed that the Jewish state was considering setting up closed military areas in a bid to prevent Palestinian infiltration into Israel from the Occupied Territories.
According to the radio, the zones would cover parts of the so-called Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank.
Peres said the full cabinet of Sharon would discuss the plan at its regular meeting Sunday.
"The security cabinet has already made a decision in principle on this matter. Now this decision must be delineated with maps and we must consider the situation that would be created and its implications," Peres said – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
