US President Bill Clinton will once again try to calm tensions in the Middle East by meeting in Washington Thursday with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat amid growing doubts that his new round of Middle East diplomacy will succeed.
He is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday in what some observers see as Clinton's last chance to push forward the Middle East peace process during his tenure, which ends on January 20.
On the eve of the White House meeting, a fresh bout of violence in the Middle East, the worst since the start of the month, killed one Israeli and five Palestinians.
There was also more tension on the diplomatic front, as Arafat was expected to make a pitch during his afternoon meeting with Clinton for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to protect the Palestinians.
Arafat was also expected to sell the idea to the UN Security Council during a closed-door meeting Friday.
"We have a right (to protection) as in all countries subjected to aggression," Arafat said Tuesday in Gaza.
Israel has made it clear it is dead set against having any peacekeepers or international observers near their borders, and Clinton on Monday said the Palestinian proposal could not be implemented over the wishes of Israel.
While Washington is also against internationalizing the Middle East crisis, as an honest broker in the peace process it cannot rule out the possibility of sending observers to the area, some US officials suggested this week.
But none of the ideas floated so far, including one calling for something similar to a small observation team of Norwegians deployed in Hebron since 1994, have met with Israeli approval.
Barak on Wednesday called on the Palestinians to negotiate peace directly with Israel and without international intervention.
"I have a message to send to the leaders of the world: only negotiations will bring a solution, and not violence," Barak said in Jerusalem.
"I say to President Arafat that we will not accept the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, because the only solution is negotiation," based on the ideas set forth during the July meeting at Camp David, he added.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher stressed Wednesday that "ending the violence, restoring calm to the region is our immediate priority.
"Our goal in these meetings is to review implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh commitments and to find ways to move forward," he said referring to Clinton's meetings with Arafat and Barak.
"There are important issues at stake for the leaders themselves and for the future of the region. And we think these meetings need to address those important issues," Boucher added.
Arafat met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London late Wednesday as part of the latest diplomatic initiative to get the peace process back on track.
After meeting Arafat at the White House on Thursday Clinton will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak separately on Sunday.
The confusion over Clinton's successor as US president has highlighted his growing status as a lame duck leader, amid continued uncertainty over whether his peace initiative will be continued by whoever is finally declared the next president -- WASHINGTON (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
