Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat are to meet at Gaza airport on Sunday, Israeli public radio said.
The radio quoted a political source for the information Thursday but gave no other details on the meeting.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell had said that in Wednesday telephone calls to Arafat, Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he had urged that the meeting be held.
The attacks in the United States require Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to decide immediately whether he wants to be a terrorist or a statesman, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres warned yesterday.
Earlier Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post quoted Peres as saying that “if Arafat does not renounce terrorism, he will have to face the wrath of the world.”
"This is a genuine opportunity for him to get out of the world of terrorism, and this is, in fact, the real test," Peres told Israel Radio.
"He cannot hold on to both at the same time - to be engaged in terrorism, while at the same time being accepted internationally. No one can. Yesterday, in the United States, this choice was made clear cut, and no room for compromise now remains. I hope the Palestinians reach the proper conclusion."
Peres, according to the report, compared “Palestinian terror to smoking,” saying that "there's a point in your life where you either quit or you become its victim."
It added that “Arafat seemed to take Peres's advice when he went out of his way to condemn the attacks and pledge his assistance.”
One PA source was quoted in the report as saying that “Arafat does not want to be perceived as making alliances with the radical camp.”
But another Palestinian official said that the trip was canceled because of the Israeli incursion into Jenin and because Israel closed its airspace after the attacks.
AFP said that Arafat is due to visit Damascus on Wednesday – Albawaba.com
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