U.S. Envoy Ross Meets With Arafat

U.S. envoy Dennis B. Ross said he held productive talks with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to try to break the impasse in Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts. They met in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank city of Ramallah. Ross is to meet with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem early today, provided the Israeli leader recovers sufficiently from influenza. Ross’ mission is his first since May, when the U.S. withdrew from direct negotiations after Israel refused to follow Palestinians in supporting a U.S. initiative that calls for Israel to hand over an additional 13% of West Bank land.