Israelis Question Palestinians on Arafat Meeting

Israeli police questioned Palestinian peace negotiators Monday on their return from Jordan but did not place them under arrest as threatened for having met with Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The delegation, headed by pro-PLO leader Faisal Husseini, crossed the Jordan River into the occupied West Bank in the morning and was immediately detained. Later, an unidentified Israeli, armed with a pistol, tried to punch Husseini at a roadblock where the Palestinian was chatting with reporters. Bodyguards restrained the man and soldiers escorted him away.

The Palestinians refused to answer questions from police. The delegates have been trying to win immunity to Israeli restrictions on contacts with the PLO.