Arafat briefs Mubarak on results of Albright meeting

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who arrived at Cairo returning from London after his meeting with Madeleine Albright, the US secretary of state.

The Palestinian president shared with President Mubarak the results of his discussion with Albright and evaluated the current developments in the stumbling peace process.

Albright met separately this week with Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who attended the meeting without bringing maps concerning the proposed conditional and limited Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Albright did not announce any advances after the discussions in Paris and London, yet she urged Albright and Netanyahu to meet American President Bill Clinton in Washington next January.

She also said that 1997 was not a good year for the peace process.

Arafat stated that he agreed on the American suggestion regarding security cooperation with Israel. Arafat has not outlined the specifics of the American suggestion, yet he expressed his hope that Israel takes serious steps to rescue the peace process.