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Short Takes:
Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi had Sunday in Rabat talks with US President Bill Clinton shortly after the funeral of the late King Hassan II. "We have reviewed the situation in Morocco, the underway socioeconomic developments projects and the backing the kingdom awaits from its friends throughout the world and especially from the United States," Youssoufi told reporters after his meeting with President Clinton. "We also reviewed Morocco-US relations," the premier added, noting that the US president pledged to spare no effort to strengthen further partnership and cooperation ties with Morocco. Go

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Jordan's King Abdullah on the margin of the funeral of King Hassan II. US President Bill Clinton also met with Arafat and Barak, in the first trilateral meeting of its sort since Barak took office. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the meeting tackled negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, adding that the meeting tackled Israeli implementation of the Wye River accord, settlements, and Judaization of Jerusalem. Go

A celebration was held in Amman on Sunday to run a passenger train from Amman to the Jordanian border town of al-Mafraq in preliminary steps toward starting regular trips between Amman and Damascus, due on Thursday. The site of the celebration was decorated with pictures of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and King Abdullah Bin Hussein of Jordan. It was attended by the Syrian charge de affairs in Amman and the chairman of the Syrian al-Hijaz railways. Go

Israeli warplanes on Sunday flew over the western and central sectors of south Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources. The sources said the Israeli planes flew at medium altitude, reaching the city of Tyre. Earlier in the day, the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army militia shelled Maymas road, Marj al-Zuhour, the course of al-Fater river, al-Debki forests and al-Daher mountain. The SLA militia also combed the suburbs of Qelya town and the Litani river course, using machine guns. Go

Israeli sources said that during their discussions at the funeral of Morocco's King Hassan II, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for winning his post in Israel, confirming his optimism because Barak has to power. The sources added that Barak promised to Bouteflika that he would achieve progress in the peace process along all tracks, specifically the Syrian and Palestinian tracks, expressing his hope for Syrian cooperation to ratify peace before the start of the new century. Go

The sixth meeting of the coordination committee of the league of Arab and African social and tribal activists met on Saturday night in Tripoli, Libya with the participation of delegations from Sudan, Chad, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Egypt, Djibouti, Comoros, Tunisia and Libya. Go

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria on Sunday made telephone calls to the Presidents of Togo and Madagascar, and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. Talks during the telephone conversations dealt with the recent African summit held in Algiers and several issues of mutual concern. Go

The Tunisian banking company has raised an international bid to sell two hotels, in light of the program of Tunisian government for privatization: the Mimosas hotel in Terka and the Tours Oasis hotel in Tours, an official statement said. The last date for buying from the Ministry of Economic Development, which is responsible for the privatization program, is on September 11 one hotel and on August 28 for the second one. Go

Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah received a message from US President Bill Clinton on Sunday in Kuwait. A statement released by the Kuwaiti Emir's court on Sunday said the message pertains to relations between the two countries and efforts made to revive and reactivate the Middle East peace process. Go

Israeli sources announced that British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Hoon will arrive in Israel today in the course of his tour of the Middle East. Israel Radio said the British minister will meet with Israeli President Ezer Weisman as well as the Israeli foreign minister and minister of justice, David Levy and Yossi Beilin, respectively. Go

Arab diplomatic sources in Damascus said Syrian President Hafez al-Assad has cancelled his travel to join the funeral of late Moroccan king El-Hassan - after Israeli officials expressed their hope towards convening a meeting between Barak and al-Assad at Rabat on the margin of the funeral. Go

US President Bill Clinton on Sunday said that on Saturday he had talked on the telephone with the new Moroccan King Muhammad VI. Clinton said he pins great hopes on the new king. AFP quoted Clinton, who was then visiting Colorado, as saying that he is wishing good luck to the new king, who he said he had received earlier. Clinton said, "I have great expectations of resuming our efforts, which are so far successful concerning the Middle East peace process." Go

The Arab foreign ministers will convene the 112th session of the Arab League council on September 4 - 5, under the chairmanship of Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahaf. Go

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem al-Thani on Saturday received a message from Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy. The Qatar News Agency said the message deals with developments in the Middle East peace process, noting that the message was delivered through diplomatic channels. This is, however, the first official declaration of exchanging messages between Qatar and Israel since the end of 1997. Go

US aircraft flying as part of Operation Northern Watch, which patrol the no-fly zone over northern Iraq bombed an Iraqi communications site today, a statement from the US European Command said. The statement said that the the US planes fired on the Iraqi site, "used to relay information from radars that in-turn target coalition aircraft," after they were fired on by Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery the statement said, adding that the planes left the area safely. Go