Colin Powell

 A senior U.S. official says the meeting may now take place Sunday. But a State Department spokesman says the secretary expects Mr. Arafat to denounce Friday's suicide bombing in Israel in the strongest possible terms.

 A woman blew herself up at a market in central Jerusalem, killing six. So far, there has been no official statement from either Mr. Arafat or the Palestinian Authority and the White House has said it will be up to Mr. Powell to decide whether to go ahead with the Arafat meeting.

 Instead of meeting with Mr. Arafat on Saturday, the State Department says Mr. Powell will meet with U.N. and Red Cross relief workers to discuss the humanitarian situation in the West Bank.

 Earlier, Mr. Powell told reporters in Jerusalem the United States expects actions, not just words, from Chairman Arafat. He also said Israel must get beyond just responding to terror attacks and return to talks with Palestinian leaders.

 Mr. Powell is also calling on Syria and other countries with influence over Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas to restrain the group from attacking Israeli towns and forces along the Lebanese border. He said the attacks could widen the conflict in the Middle East with what he called devastating consequences.

 Secretary Powell was being given an inspection of Israel's northern border area earlier Friday when Hezbollah fired rockets and mortars into the Golan Heights in what has become an almost daily occurrence.

 Syria and Iran are the major supporters of Hezbollah, which fought Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

 Earlier Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi also called on Hezbollah to exercise self-restraint in the border clashes.
 
 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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