JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres are to meet in Gaza on Wednesday after intense U.S. pressure to hold truce talks that could help form a global anti-terror alliance. (Read photo caption below)Arafat and Peres are scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. EDT) at Gaza airport.
The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had canceled the two men's meetings that had been planned earlier in the week, citing ongoing violence and demanding at least 48 hours of quiet.
But the United States, intent on forming a broad coalition including Arab countries to fight terror in response to the attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, pressured the sides to hold cease-fire talks despite the fighting.
``This is an important step which we hope will contribute significantly to reinforcing efforts to halt the violence and build a substantive political dialogue,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said of the Peres-Arafat meeting.
Peres said it seemed unlikely the talks would again be canceled although sporadic violence erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
``This meeting has been prepared as necessary...and is opening in an atmosphere of agreement between the sides,'' he said in comments broadcast on Israeli television.
``I don't think anything could cancel it at this point.''
Boucher said the meeting could help the United States in its efforts to fight Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization, labeled by the United States as the prime suspect in the attacks.
``It does contribute, I think, toward solidifying the coalition and to making the point that the United States is not against Muslims, that this fight against terrorism is not a fight against
PHOTO CAPTION:
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, left, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat address a joint news conference at Amman airport, Monday, Sept. 24, 2001. Straw was enroute to Iran, on the first leg of a regional tour, which includes Israel and Egypt to build support for the anti-terror coalition the United States is building. (AP Photo/Jamal Nasrallah)