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Short Takes:
In its Sunday morning report, the BBC said that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa has called on Israel to define what its means by saying "resuming negotiations from the point they stopped at," refusing to predict a date for resuming these negotiations. Al-Sharaa said, "The coming months and weeks will reveal this matter, positively or negatively." Go

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is starting tomorrow an external tour that is to include Egypt, the USA and France. Nabeel Abu Rodina, president Arafat's advisor, said Arafat will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in framework of the continuous consultations and coordination of the two presidents to follow up on the Sharm El-Sheikh note before the anticipated meeting between Arafat and US President Bill Clinton on Thursday in Washington. Go

A Gulf diplomatic source in Doha said that a Gulf delegation is to visit the Turkish capital, Ankara, in days to study with the specialized Turkish fronts implementing a reconstruction program for the Turkish areas that were destroyed due to a major earthquake last month which will be financed by the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Go

Israel Radio said on Sunday that the question of resuming Syrian - Israeli negotiations will occupy a prominent and pivotal position in the talks Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will hold with French officials during his expected visit to Europe. Israel Radio added that Barak will express his readiness to extend a helping hand to push forward the Syrian-Israeli track but that he is not ready for "Paris to play a key role in reactivating this track." Go

The foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states are to hold meetings on the sidelines of the meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York with the foreign ministers of the US, Japan, China, the European Union, the group of Latin American states and the group of the southeastern Asian states, ASEAN. Go

The executive committee of the Jordanian people's conference to counter normalization will convene its second conference "to protect the homeland and withstand normalization" on Friday with the participation of some 517 members. Go

The military spokesman for the Sudanese army has said that the Sudanese armed forces have deterred an attack launched by the rebels against the eastern border to the north of the city of Kasla and inflicted heavy human casualties and won their vehicles and some of their weapons. Go

Egypt and the US signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday in Cairo concerning coordination and cooperation between the drug fighting departments in the two countries. On the Egyptian side the memorandum was signed by Egyptian Minister of the Interior Lt. Gen Habib El-Adli, and the US was represented by the US ambassador in Cairo, Daniel Kurtzer. Go

Sudanese Minister of Industry Badr Eddin Mohamed Suleiman has announced that geological survey studies on the northeastern al-Louwa region in the White Nile revealed the existence of very valuable archaeological treasures of gold and ivory. Go

Lebanese Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss has denied any secret contacts between Lebanon and Israel, stressing that there are no brokers between Israel and Lebanon concerning Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon. In a statement to Sawt al-Arab radio on Saturday, the Lebanese prime minister indicated that an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon does not mean achieving peace, stressing the unity of position between the Lebanese and Syrian peace tracks. Go