US President Bill Clinton made a temporary exit from the Middle East peace summit at Camp David on Thursday, a White House spokesman said.
Clinton was scheduled to address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Baltimore, Maryland, on Thursday and also attend a congressional award ceremony in Washington.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was to remain at Camp David to oversee the negotiations, which began between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and their delegations on Tuesday.
The time of Clinton's return was not announced, but he was expected to return in the evening, an official said.
The president has set aside a week to try to strike a peace deal at the wooded retreat in Maryland. He is due to go to Japan for a summit of the G8 group of seven industrialized countries and Russia on July 19th -- THURMONT, Maryland (AFP)
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