Last chance for Middle East peace, says Palestinian leader

The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has warned that talks to be held next week with President Bill Clinton in Washington are the last chance to save the Middle East peace effort.

Mr Arafat, who is in Jordan for talks with King Hussein on ways of salvaging the peace process, said it was vital that the contentious issue of Israeli troop withdrawals from the West Bank should be tackled at the talks, in which Mr Clinton will have separate meetings with Mr Arafat and the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

In Syria, President Assad held talks with the visiting French Foreign Minister, Hubert Vedrine, on the latest leg of his tour of the Middle East.

President Assad told Mr Vedrine he welcomed an active role by France, and other European countries, in trying to secure peace in the region.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service