Cheney says he’ll meet Arafat if truce holds

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday that Yasser Arafat will be free to travel to an Arab summit next week if the Palestinian leader agrees to a cease-fire, but hinted Arafat may not be allowed back if the violence persists while he is gone.

In another incentive for a truce, Vice President Dick Cheney said he would meet Arafat as early as next week if a cease-fire is achieved. It would be Arafat’s highest-level contact with the Bush administration.

Both sides said a truce to halt 18 months of Palestinian-Israeli violence could be declared after a crucial meeting of security commanders set for today. Violence continued Tuesday, with an Israeli soldier and three Palestinians dying.

Also, an explosion on a bus in northern Israel injured several people late Tuesday, Israel media reported. Israel radio said a suicide bomber had exploded in the center of the bus. More details were not available.

In a statement late Tuesday, the Palestinian Cabinet said it is prepared to implement a cease-fire "according to a timetable agreed on by both sides, without any delay." The statement complained that "troops are still surrounding the Palestinian territories with a tight siege and continuous aggression against the Palestinian people."

Arafat wants to attend an Arab summit in Beirut on March 27 and 28, at which Saudi Arabia is expected to present a proposal for broad Arab-Israeli peace in exchange for a return of the territories Israel occupied in 1967 — the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

These ideas have been welcomed by the United States and European Union, but Sharon opposes a total withdrawal from territory he considers strategically valuable.

Sharon expressed his expectations of Arafat at the summit and added an implied warning.

"We would expect that he will speak on the importance of peace and regional stability," Sharon said.

Asked whether Arafat would be allowed to return to the Palestinian territories after the summit, Sharon said: "If it turns out that he didn’t act in that way, the Cabinet will meet and will have to make a decision. I wouldn’t rule out any possibilities."

Meanwhile, the Arab League will support a Saudi proposal to end the Mideast conflict during the summit next week, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said in an interview published Tuesday, urging the United States to press Israel to accept the proposal.