US: Ross to visit Israel, Arafat and Barak to meet

A senior US adminsitration official said on Saturday, after a meeting between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and US President Bill Clinton that Arafat is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday or Friday after the scheduled Wednesday arrival in Israel of US peace process coordinator Dennis Ross. The official said Arafat "raised the importance of moving on the interim issues, a number of interim issues that flow from the Sharm agreement, and he emphasized a need for U.S. engagement."