Clinton Lends His Views to Mideast Talks

President Clinton rejoined the Wye Plantation summit Saturday, meeting separately with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With officials of all three delegations generally adhering to a news blackout, there was little solid information about the progress of the summit, which began Thursday. U.S. officials said they still hoped to wrap up the meetings sometime today.

“The constructive and pragmatic approach continues,” State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said. “They are working hard on the substantive issues. We’re determined to keep the pace of work as intensive as possible.

“I’ve seen reports that no progress has been made,” Rubin said. “I reject that characterization.”

Clinton, who skipped Friday’s Middle East talks in favor of a political trip to Illinois and budget meetings in Washington, arrived at the compound on Maryland’s Eastern Shore shortly after noon.

The president met first with Arafat and his delegation for an hour and 20 minutes before starting late-afternoon discussions with the Israelis.

Clinton’s talks with Netanyahu were described as “informal” because they began about two hours before sunset, the official end of the Jewish Sabbath. However, the list of officials attending the meeting indicated that it was a serious one focusing on Israel’s demand for security assurances from the Palestinians.

Netanyahu’s team included a close political ally, Industry and Trade Minister Natan Sharansky, a key legal aide, Uzi Arad, and the prime minister’s military assistant, Maj. Gen. Shimon Shapira.

The U.S. team included CIA Director George J. Tenet, who has sought to mediate between Israeli and Palestinian security forces.

However, Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai were not expected to arrive at the Wye Plantation until sometime today. They were attending a reunion of the Israeli military units that crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Rubin said the Israeli, Palestinian and American delegations were meeting in a variety of informal settings, including during secluded walks through the fields surrounding the Wye Plantation compound. But, he acknowledged, Netanyahu and Arafat had met one-on-one just once--for a little more than an hour Friday.

Netanyahu and Arafat have made no secret of their mutual animosity. Yet, if the summit is to reach a successful conclusion, it seems clear that the two leaders will have to spend more time in each other’s company.

White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said Clinton discussed the summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a 12-minute telephone conversation just after his arrival at the Wye compound.

Although the president returned to the White House late Saturday, Lockhart indicated that Clinton will return to the summit today.

“The president . . . has a unique role here to help both sides understand each side’s position,” Lockhart said. “The president has a strong reservoir of trust between both sides.”

While Clinton was meeting with the Israelis, senior members of the Palestinian delegation skipped out of the conference compound to sample the wares of a nearby factory outlet mall.