Clinton Meets Arafat on Middle East Peace

U.S. President Bill Clinton, who prepared to restart the Middle East peace talks, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Wednesday met in New York to try and advance the Middle East peace process shortly after Clinton held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

P.J. Crowley, spokesman for the White House National Security, said Clinton and Barak met for nearly an hour and that Clinton was expected to meet for about the same length of time with Arafat.

He had no details of the discussions, unfolding at a luxury hotel on the fringes of the U.N. Millennium Summit, the largest gathering of world leaders to discuss the role of the United Nations in the new century.

After talks with Arafat, President Clinton was expected to meet Jordanian King Abdullah and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah.



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