Arafat visits Oman

The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is in Oman to brief Sultan Qaboos on his latest talks in Washington on the Middle East peace process.

The Omani Foreign Minister, Youssef bin Alawi, told reporters in Muscat that Oman supported the Palestinian people in their struggle to regain their legitimate rights.

Oman was one of the few Gulf states which had low-level relations with Israel.

These were broken off in October when the latest violence erupted between the Israelis and Palestinian demonstrators.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service