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Wednesday November 8 6:22 PM ET
Arafat, Clinton to Meet As More Die in Middle East

By Deborah Camiel

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will hold talks with President Clinton (news - web sites) on Thursday in the latest American effort to end six weeks of violence that has all but killed the Middle East peace process.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who is to see Clinton on Sunday, said that only the resumption of talks between the two sides could lead to the independent state Arafat wants to declare by the end of the year.

Providing a gloomy backdrop for Arafat's arrival in Washington, six more deaths on Wednesday brought to at least 186 the toll from the unrest. Almost all the dead are Palestinians.

``Negotiation can lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state with Israel's agreement that will be a stabilizing force in the area and serve the interests of the world,'' Barak told Israel's Channel One television late on Wednesday.

``The establishment of a state amid conflict that is hostile to Israel will be an unstabilizing force to moderate regimes in the area and...opposes the interests of the world,'' he added.

Though Palestinian officials have said Arafat will not risk international isolation by declaring a state unilaterally, senior Palestinian negotiator Hassan Asfour told Reuters Barak could not dictate the terms of the declaration.

``What we need from him is to withdraw from the territories conquered in 1967 and after that the Palestinians will decide to establish their own state,'' said Asfour, referring to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

``(Barak) is the last man in the world to speak of stability during his war against the Palestinians and it is he and his country who are against the stability in the region,'' Asfour told Reuters.

Arafat To Ask For International Observers

Arafat is expected to push in Washington for a U.N.-mandated protection force to help end the turmoil.

Although Israel opposes the idea, the U.N. Security Council decided to hear a direct appeal from Arafat for a 2,000-strong force of U.N. military observers. The council agreed to an Israeli request for equal time.

Britain, France and the United States have already dismissed such a force as unworkable in the face of Israeli opposition, but speaking in London after talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) late on Wednesday, Arafat repeated his plea.

``The most important thing is quick joint action to face up to the tough situation facing our people,'' he told reporters in Downing Street. ``Our people are facing military aggression -- tanks, artillery and gunships.''

Four Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli troops on Wednesday and an Israeli woman was killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen. Two Palestinians died of wounds from earlier clashes in Gaza.

Barak Says Hopes Clinton Can End Violence

``This situation cannot continue and Israel will bring it to an end through diplomatic or other means,'' Barak said in a televised speech in Jerusalem on Wednesday night.

``I hope the meetings in the next few days which President Clinton will hold with Chairman Arafat and myself will bring about an end to the violence and the full implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings,'' he said.

Barak was referring to a deal, brokered by Clinton at a crisis summit in Egypt in mid-October, to halt the bloodshed.

In a letter to foreign leaders on Tuesday, Barak said he was ready to accept a Palestinian state, but only if it comes through agreement. The remarks were his clearest commitment to conditionally accepting a Palestinian state but also a warning to Arafat not to make a unilateral declaration of statehood.

The Palestine Liberation Organization's mini-parliament, the Palestinian Central Council, was not expected to declare a state during a two-day meeting starting in Gaza on November 15, Palestinian officials said. ''This issue should be decided after studying in depth the outcome of the American elections and Israeli variables,'' cabinet minister Nabil Amr told Reuters.

Neither side has said it expects peace talks to resume soon. Barak has frozen negotiations, stalled since he, Arafat and Clinton failed to secure a peace deal at Camp David in July.

The outcome of the U.S. election was being watched closely by Israelis and Palestinians because the United States has played a major role as mediator in peacemaking.

Asfour said he hoped Clinton's successor would cut the close ties between Israel and the United States which he said were ``at the expense of the Arab nation.''