Arafat Asks Clinton To Resolve Stalemate

The latest U.S. attempt to restart deadlocked Middle East peace talks ended in failure Friday, and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat appealed to President Clinton to intervene personally in the crisis.

Arafat, in a letter to Washington, told Clinton he was disappointed with the latest shuttle mission of U.S. special envoy Dennis B. Ross, and he underscored his frustration by initially refusing to meet with the mediator or take his calls.

He finally relented, meeting Ross in the West Bank city of Nablus just before the diplomat’s scheduled departure for Washington late Friday, but there was no breakthrough.