Arafat in Cairo today

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is going to arrive in Cairo today where he is to deliver an address to the Arab foreign ministers in the meetings of their 110th session chaired by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa.

The Palestinian deputy at the Arab League, ambassador Mohammed Sobieh, said that Arafat will obtain Arab support before his travel to the meetings of the UN's General Assembly.

Moreover Arafat will call for financial support for reinforcing Palestine in confronting the economically harmful policy Israel is adopting, closing borders to Palestinian employment.

Arafat will also meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and tackle the recent developments in the peace process and its impasse. He will also inform Mubarak about the status of the US initiative.

Meanwhile, an Arab source in Cairo told ArabicNews.com that the US administration will strongly press the Palestinians and Israelis to reach a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations between them.

The source, informed on the Palestinian - Israeli file, expected that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will agree to changes in the formula of the original US redeployment plan, which the US administration failed to have Netanyahu accept. The plan calls for an Israeli redeployment from 13% of the occupied West Bank.

The sources also expected that Arafat will accept the new solution, which would avoid the creation of new additional categories of land in the regions known as area A/B/C. Israel wants 3% of the suggested 13% to be a nature preserve.