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Arafat and Peres visit Norway |
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August 13, 2000
OSLO (AP) - After a day of anticipation and delays, Israel's elder statesman Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat canceled plans to meet Friday in Norway but sounded optimistic about the peace process. The 71-year-old Palestinian leader - who has visited 15 Arab and European countries in the past 18 days - said he was hopeful about negotiations but conceded that he has been unable to win international backing for a unilateral proclamation of Palestinian statehood if a peace treaty is not concluded by its Sept. 13 deadline. "We have received advice from many friends asking us to delay the declaration of a Palestinian state," he said as he emerged from almost two hours of talks with top Norwegian officials. He did not comment further on his plans but said earlier in Helsinki, Finland, that it would be up the Palestinian central council to decide, probably by early next month. Norway's Foreign Ministry originally planned a dinner for the two Nobel laureates but later said Peres would meet Arafat at the airport after delays during a trip from Moscow to Helsinki, Finland, to Oslo forced Arafat to cancel plans to go into the city. Officials announced after talks with Arafat that the two men would not meet. "We are sorry that the delays meant Peres could not come because of the Sabbath, but there have been telephone calls between Chairman Arafat and Peres," Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland said. |