Arafat's visit to Cairo postponed

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat decided to postpone until next week a visit that he was to pay yesterday to Cairo, because he was to attend the weekly meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet yesterday evening in Gaza to discuss developments in the current situation of the peace process before his trip to Rome today in a formal visit to both the Vatican and Italy.

An official source in the Palestinian presidency said that President Arafat will visit Cairo after his visit to Italy in which he will hold talks with Egypt's President Mubarak where they will address the efforts exerted to enhance the peace process and work to hold an Arab summit.

Arafat denied that he informed U.S. President Bill Clinton that Mahmoud Abass (Abu Mazen), the head of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, will be his successor, clarifying that the matter of succession is decided by the Palestinian National Council and the PLO's executive committee.