PLO says Arafat , Netanyahu could meet Saturday .
JERUSALEM 1996-12-06
PLO negotiators said on Friday Palestinian President Yasser Arafat , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak might all meet on Saturday to try to clinch a deal on Israel 's handover of Hebron to the PLO .
" It is very possible that Arafat and Netanyahu will meet in Cairo on Saturday .
There is work on arranging such a meeting hosted by President Mubarak , " one PLO official , who requested anonymity , told Reuters .
Israeli officials said no meeting had yet been set .
Arafat 's adviser Nabil Abu Rdainah said :
" President Arafat is ready to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu but no time or date has been set for such a meeting yet .
" President Arafat 's position is clear that such a meeting should come after successful negotiations so that the meeting would have positive results .
Especially since the Hebron issue has not been agreed yet and the crucial disputed issues have not been resolved . "
But Rdainah said Arafat would go to Cairo on Saturday for talks with Mubarak .
Both Arafat and Netanyahu have expressed willingness to meet .
They last met in Washington after clashes in September that killed 60 Palestinians and 15 Israelis .
The violence was spurred by Israel 's opening an entrance to a tunnel near Moslem sites in Jerusalem .
The Palestine Liberation Organisation ( PLO ) negotiators said the last two weeks of talks with Israel on implementing the long-delayed handover of most of Hebron to PLO rule had been " meaningless " , necessitating an Arafat-Netanyahu meeting .
Mubarak 's adviser Osama el-Baz said on Thursday there were efforts to arrange a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders .
Palestinian Authority Secretary General Ahmed Abdel-Rahman said on Thursday he understood it could be held in Cairo either on Friday or Sunday .
Abdel-Rahman had said on Thursday he did not think Saturday would be the date because it is the Jewish sabbath .
But the Jewish sabbath ends at sundown , so a night meeting would not interfere with the religious observance .