Israel says Ross visit goes ahead

An Israeli spokesman says Washington's Middle East envoy, Dennis Ross, will go ahead with his visit to the region next week There had been speculation that the trip might be postponed because of political turmoil in Israel over the budget.

However, the spokesman said the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, would now meet Mr Ross on Tuesday, a day later than planned.

Mr Ross will also have talks with Palestinian leaders.

Both Mr Netanyahu and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, are to travel to Washington later this month for separate meetings with President Clinton on moving the peace process forward.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service