Clinton not to attend summit

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 13. The U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, has said that he will not attend any emergency summit in West Asia unless the Israelis and the Palestinians publicly committed themselves to ending the latest cycle of violence. Egypt, which initially was reluctant to host a summit prior to a meeting of Arab leaders next week, is now said to be willing to host such a meeting that will include the U.S.

On Thursday, the administration had to grapple with not only the terrorist attack on its naval ship stationed in Yemen but the Israeli retaliation on the West Bank and the Gaza following the lynching of two soldiers by Palestinians. Mr. Clinton has other plans for the rest of the week which included speaking and fund- raising activities. He has cancelled visits to Missouri and Arkansas and the White House has said a decision about his trip to the West Coast would be made later. The administration, which has been taken aback by the scale of violence in West Asia, is now trying to persuade the Israelis and the Palestinians to pick up the pieces of the peace process.

Mr. Clinton had hoped that a peace accord between the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Barak and the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat would be the pinnacle of his eight-year foreign policy. That, even administration officials concede, is now a distant dream with efforts to control and stop the violence taking precedence. Washington is now keen to see the lines of communication between the Palestinians and the Israelis opened once more. ``To think that we can go from where we are right back into peace-making isn't realistic. The wounds that exist on both sides is quite deep,'' a senior administration official said.

On Thursday, Mr. Clinton spoke repeatedly with Mr. Arafat, Mr. Barak, the Egyptian President, the King of Jordan, the British Prime Minister and the U.N. Secretary-General. ``All the leaders share the President's concern that we have to bring down the violence,'' a spokesman of the National Security Council said.

PTI reports from UN:

At the U.N., the Security Council has decided against formally acting on the fast deteriorating situation after the U.S. signalled that it would take a tough stand and veto any new resolution.

The Council's decision yesterday to wait-and-watch the situation for the time being came even as diplomats and officials expressed fears that the violence could intensify.

The 15-member Council, which twice briefly considered the situation behind closed doors yesterday, rejected the request for an immediate meeting by the U.N. Palestinian observer, Mr. Nasser al-Kidwa, who threatened to take the issue to the 188- member General Assembly if the Council failed to act.

The U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Richard Holbrooke, opposed any further involvement of the Council, saying ``I want to make it absolutely clear that if there is a resolution, we will veto.''

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