US President Bill Clinton is considering traveling to the Middle East this week for a summit with Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders, to try to bring an end to recent violence and restart the peace process there, US officials said Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, and Clinton would attend the summit, hosted by the Egyptians, the officials said.
"There are a number of ideas under consideration to do that, including meetings with leaders, but we have made no decision at this point," an official told AFP.
A possible venue for the meeting is the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, according to CNN.
But Clinton is unlikely to travel before Wednesday or Thursday, because of the four-day visit to the United States by North Korean Vice Marshall Jo Myong-Rok -- or before the current escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is curtailed.
"The president has been focused through the weekend on helping the parties get past the current cycle of violence" in the Middle East, the official said.
"We recognize that if that is successful we need to find a way to shift the focus back toward the peace process," he added.
Throughout the day Sunday, Clinton continued his efforts to defuse tensions in the Middle East and maintain Washington's role as a mediator in the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.
He made telephone calls to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, according to deputy White House press secretary Nanda Chitre.
The Middle East peace process has been thrown into jeopardy since September 28 when a high profile visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the disputed mosque compound in East Jerusalem sparked violence that has left more than 90 dead and hundreds injured.
US national security advisor, Sandy Berger, said in a television interview earlier Sunday that Syria was one of the countries through which the United States would try to secure the release of three Israeli soldiers captured Saturday by Hizbollah guerrillas, in an additional development in the strife.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in separate television interviews Sunday, indicated that Washington still regards Barak as someone who may yet deliver on Middle East peace.
Barak "is someone who actually has worked very hard for peace ... but who is truly frustrated by the fact that this violence has emerged and is surrounding the people of Israel.
"And he's also a soldier, and so he is determined to defend his people," she said.
Albright said on NBC the United States expected Arafat "to be able to control" the situation.
"It is a dangerous period, but also, we were close to peace," Albright said. "This kind of thing happens when you are close to peace."
A day earlier, the United States abstained from the vote on a UN Security Council resolution that condemned the "excessive use of force" against Palestinians in clashes with Israeli forces.
The United States had threatened to veto a more strongly-worded version - WASHINGTON (AFP)
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