Arafat offers Clinton deal on recognition

RAMALLAH [MENL] -- Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat plans to offer U.S. President Bill Clinton a delay in declaring Palestinian sovereignty in exchange for an explicit recognition by Washington of the right of statehood, officials said on Wednesday.

PA officials said Arafat will present the offer to Clinton when they meet on March 23 at the White House. The officials said the talks with Clinton will focus on Arafat's conditions for a delay in statehood.

The officials said both Egypt and Jordan have urged Arafat to delay such an announcement, scheduled for May 4, so as not to help incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is seeking a second term in elections 13 days later.

PA Secretary-General Tayeb Abdul Rahim told Agence France-Presse that Arafat will demand from Clinton U.S. recognition of the right of the Palestinians to declare a state. He said this condition would be the basic element of a PA agreement to delay plans to announce a state on May 17.

Abdul Rahim said Arafat's planned offer does not mean that the Palestinians have decided to delay statehood indefinitely. He said the proposal is still being examined by the Palestinian leadership.

Later, Abdul Rahim's assertion was echoed by other PA officials and PA radio. The officials said that European governments have agreed to raise the level of diplomatic relations with the PA after May 4.

"The Europeans are going to raise the level of Palestinian representative offices as part of a clearer reorganization of Palestinian rights," PA International Nabil Shaath said.

On Tuesday night, Arafat headed a session of the Fatah leadership. Palestinian sources said the chief discussion concerned plans for a declaration of Palestinian statehood.

PA radio on Wednesday said at the Ramallah meeting that a committee he established to examine the issue would perform its work in a serious manner. The radio said Arafat reviewed the latest developments in the peace process and Israel's suspension of the Wye Plantation accords signed in October, which, among other things, call for an Israeli withdrawal in parts of the West Bank.

Abdul Rahim and other PA officials said whatever their decision, the West Bank and Gaza Strip will no longer continue under interim self-rule as stipulated by the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accords. They said the status of the PA-ruled territories would be raised to that above the level of autonomy.