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Arafat in US

WASHINGTON: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived in Washington on Thursday for a meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton, complaining his peace moves with Israel were going nowhere fast.

Arafat voiced pessimism during a stop in Egypt despite official statements he and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed on Monday to redouble efforts to close a framework deal for a treaty by an agreed upon Feb. 13 deadline.

"We did not come out with a concrete result, only promises that have not been fulfilled," Arafat said when he met reporters in Cairo on his way to Thursday's White House talks.

Barak, who came to power six months ago vowing to accelerate peace moves, angered Palestinians by delaying a handover of another 6.1 percent of the West Bank to Palestinian rule. The transfer was to have taken place on Thursday.

Arafat said he would ask Clinton, the leading mediator in Arab-Israeli peace moves, to get Israel to meet an agreed upon September deadline for the treaty Arafat hopes will give Palestinians an independent state.-Reuters