Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will travel to Egypt, France and Britain to amass support for his plan to salvage the Mideast peace process, he told his Cabinet on Friday.
Before traveling to Washington next week, Arafat said he will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday and then travel to Europe for separate meetings with French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a Cabinet statement said.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Arafat’s plan is based on discussions with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Among other things, the plan demands that Israel halt settlement expansion and continue its withdrawal from the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, sought to soothe critics and reassure supporters Friday.
Netanyahu said he was headed to next week’s Mideast summit in Washington with “flexibility” and “firmness.”
