President Clinton will meet separately with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, next week in an effort to break an 18-month deadlock in the Middle East peace process, a US official said last night.
The official, who asked not to be named, sought to play down expectations for the meeting on Monday with Mr Netanyahu and the session later in the week with Mr Arafat, saying he did not expect any overall agreement to emerge from the discussions.
President Clinton last met Mr Arafat and Mr Netanyahu in January, the week news of his affair with the former White House intern, Ms Monica Lewinsky, broke but he made little progress in that round of talks.