US President Bill Clinton is deeply preoccupied by the risk of an escalation of violence in the Middle East amid continued Israeli-Palestinian clashes, the White House said Thursday, according to AFP
The White House voiced concern over the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian lands, reported CNN.
CNN correspondent said President Bill Clinton talked this morning to the Palestinian president Yasser Arafat in a bid to restore calm in the Palestinian lands.
CNN said Clinton also planned to talk to the Israeli prime minister to urge him to coordinate efforts with Arafat to deescalate the situation.
Gaza came under Israeli shelling as Arafat met with the CIA director George Tennet .
The CIA chief arrived in Gaza to arrange for a meeting of a security committee designed to
bring an end to two weeks of bloody confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers.
The committee meeting was to bring together Palestinian and Israeli security officials under American and UN sponsorship. The planned meeting followed talks by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Gaza and West Jerusalem.
Annan cut short a visit to Beirut following the Israeli air strikes on Gaza and the West Bank - (Several Sources)
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