Britain said Tuesday it had been exerting pressure on Israel to allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to take part in a potentially essential Arab summit in Beirut later this month.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw praised Israel's decision Monday to stop keeping the Palestinian leader confined in his West Bank compound but insisted that was not enough.
"We shall continue to pressure the Israeli government to ensure that he (Arafat) can indeed travel to Beirut and back again in safety," Straw said.
"Of course this is absolutely essential and we are discussing this with the American government as well as with others," he said, according to AFP.
The Beirut summit could determine the fate of a Saudi proposal which would involve Arab states offering peace with Israel in exchange for an end to Israel's occupation of Arab land.
Arafat's attendance has been in doubt because he has been cooped in the West Bank city of Ramallah by Israeli tanks since December.
Israel said it would allow him to leave his compound but that he would still be blocked inside the town as Israel keeps up the pressure on the Palestinians in what it says is a bid to stop anti-Israeli attacks. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
