Clinton Delays Japan Trip to Press On With Mideast Summit TalksU.S. President Bill Clinton is putting off by a day his departure for an economic summit in Asia to spend more time on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at Camp David, Maryland.Clinton, originally scheduled to leave Washington about 9 a.m. time today, now is not expected to leave until Thursday, CNN has learned. He is due to attend a meeting of the world's industrial powers this week in Japan. White House officials had insisted that Clinton was firm about sticking to his scheduled departure for the Japan trip. But they appeared in recent days to leave room for a possible schedule change if Clinton thought it would help the parties reach an agreement. Word of the postponed departure came as aides for both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat engaged in more late-night talks at the Maryland presidential retreat. Negotiations are said to be intense, with each side insisting that nothing less than a full agreement would be acceptable. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |