Abdullah to Hold Talks With Arafat

King Abdullah II of Jordan will hold talks with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat today during the king’s first visit to the autonomous Palestinian areas. Arafat’s office said in a statement that Abdullah and Arafat would discuss the Mideast peace process. The meeting is to take place at Arafat’s Gaza City headquarters. In Amman, the Jordanian capital, government officials said the talks with Arafat would focus on forging a unified Arab stance before resumed peace negotiations under a new Israeli government headed by Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak. The meeting is part of contacts underway to convene a five-way summit that would gather Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinians, the officials said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.