Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was due in Helskini from Moscow on Friday at the start of a Nordic tour to brief Scandinavian leaders on the status of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Arafat is due to meet Finnish President Tarja Halonen to inform her on the Palestinian position in the wake of last month's Camp David summit.
Arafat will travel to Oslo later in the day where he is expected to meet with former Israeli prime minister and his co-Nobel peace prize winner Shimon Peres.
The Norwegian foreign ministry announced late on Thursday that it had also invited Peres to Oslo for a 24-hour visit.
"It is Norway that invited Mr Peres to come to Oslo at the same time as Mr Arafat because these two men are important actors in the Middle East peace process," the ministry said.
Oslo was the site of the secret Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in the early 1990s, which led to the 1993 peace accord.
Both men will hold meetings with Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, and Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland.
Arafat will be spending the night at the government's guest residence in Oslo before returning to the Middle East on Saturday evening.
Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian minister for international cooperation, was however expected to travel to Stockholm where he would provide similar briefings to Swedish officials, the Palestinian representative in Sweden said.
The stops in Nordic capitals will follow Arafat's visit to Moscow where he rallied Russia's continued support for his plan to declare an independent state, in talks Friday with President Vladimir Putin.
"You know Russia's position, which was always highlighted by respect for Palestinian rights, including the right to an independent state," ITAR-TASS quoted Putin as saying.
The agency's report, however, made no mention of Putin reacting to Arafat's bid to declare an independent state on September 13th, a deadline agreed by both sides for a comprehensive peace deal.
In Tehran on Thursday, Arafat reiterated his intention to declare a Palestinian state next month with or without an overall peace agreement with Israel.
Arafat, an old friend of the Soviet Union, is also seeking to secure a greater Russian role in the peace process to counterbalance Washington's dominant role.
RUSSIAN FM TELLS ARAFAT TO BE CAUTIOUS ON DECLARING STATE
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had told Arafat during his visit to Moscow to exercise caution when making a decision on declaring an independent Palestinian state next month.
"Russia has no problem with recognizing a Palestinian state. As for the best timing for an independence declaration, we hold an opinion on that here, the decision must be made with extreme caution," Ivanov told a joint press briefing with Arafat.
"It is important that this step should guarantee the achievements of the Palestinian-Israeli (peace) settlement, and on the other hand that it should create ... a fully independent Palestinian state," Ivanov said.
Arafat has said he intends to declare an independent state on September 13 -- a deadline agreed by both sides for a comprehensive peace deal -- even if no agreement with Israel is reached -- (AFP)
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