Arafat to meet with Clinton in February, Shaath says

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will meet with US President Clinton on February 4 in Washington, Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation Nabil Shaath announced.

Arafat "will meet Clinton in Washington on February 4 and the day after he will hold a meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, with the foreign ministers of the European Union," Shaath said in a statement run by Egyptian television.

The Palestinian president conferred over the weekend with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on means of salvaging the Middle East peace process.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources told ArabicNews.com that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat intends to delay the declaration of an independent Palestinian state which Palestinian officials have emphasized can be declared on May 4 and that the Palestinian leader will discuss this delay when he meets with Clinton in the coming month.

The sources said that the Palestinian president will reconsider delaying the declaration of a Palestinian state if the European Union and United States support the establishment of the Palestinian state and Israel fulfills some of its commitments.