AMMAN, Jordan, April 12 (UPI) -- The Egyptian foreign minister Friday became the first Arab official to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his besieged Ramallah headquarters.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was taken to the Palestinian West Bank from Amman and brought back by a Jordanian helicopter. Arafat has been confined to his West Bank headquarters by an Israeli siege since March 29.
Maher was able to go to see the Palestinian Authority chairman after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave his approval for the meeting.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was in Israel Friday, is also expected to meet with Arafat before returning to Washington.
Maher told reporters he informed Arafat about contacts between Egypt and other Arab countries aimed at ending the Israeli military offensive against Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The talks were important and constructive, he said, and the Palestinians were ready to cooperate in all efforts to stop the Israeli military action.
Because negotiations between Powell and Israeli leaders were still going on, Maher said, he was unable to reach Powell, who was to have briefed Maher on the talks.
Earlier Friday, Powell met with Sharon for 4-1/2 hours. Officials attending the meeting said it was evident Sharon had not agreed to Washington's wish for a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Maher said any settlement of the current conflict should include an independent Palestinian state based on respect for U.N. resolutions, Israel immediately halting what he called its aggression against the Palestinian people, Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, and lifting the siege on Arafat.
Although Arafat and his aides were squeezed into a few rooms, they remained in high spirits, Maher said.
