World News 16-10-2000 Middle East Crisis Summit Begins who: President Hosni Mubarak what: Hosts Middle East crisis summit where: EGYPT when: Today snippet: "US President Bill Clinton is to make a last-ditch attempt to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians," reports the BBC, "after two weeks of violence which have derailed the Middle East peace process." As well as Mr Clinton, the summit, hosted by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, will involve "top diplomatic heavyweights" writes Phil Reeves for The Independent, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, EU representative Javier Solana and King Abdullah of Jordan. The meeting in Egypt today looked in doubt last night, says The Mirror in its report "Summit of Hate", after the Palestinians threatened not to attend. "The bid for peace was dealt a further blow when Hizbollah guerrillas kidnapped an Israeli soldier who they claim is an intelligence officer". But despite comments by Palestinian officials, Yasser Arafat promised that he would attend the meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh today, warning cryptically "Not one of us will sell off a single grain of sand of Jerusalem." "All sides issued warnings not to expect too much from the summit," writes Anton La Guardia in The Telegraph. "At most, officials said, the gathering may reach agreement on a ceasefire - once a pre-condition for holding the summit and now merely its distant objective." [... more]

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