Preparations for a Clinton, Arafat and Netanyahu summit

US Special peace envoy to the Middle East, Dennis Ross, is due to arrive in the region next Wednesday to try and complete the agreement between Palestine and Israel for implementing the second phase redeployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank.

Contacts have taken place over the past few days between US officials on one hand and Palestinian and Israeli officials on the other to prepare for the visit. Ross will not stay more than one or maximum two days in the region. His schedule includes a meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Palestinian and Israeli sources said there is a chance that both President Arafat and Netanyahu will hold a three-way summit meeting with President Bill Clinton in the last week of September. Both leaders are due to attend the UN annual rally, in New York.

The US Administration hopes that such a summit will get off the ground, mainly after cautious optimism that the gap between the Palestinians and Israel is narrow enough to bridge.