DATE=03/16/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS UPDATE (S)

NUMBER=2-287644

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet Sunday with top Palestinian officials to work out a ceasefire. The news comes after U-S envoy Anthony Zinni met twice in two days with both sides to try to broker a truce. Correspondent Laurie Kassman has the latest from Jerusalem.

TEXT: The statement from the Prime Minister's office says simply a three-way meeting will take place Sunday to bring about a declaration of a ceasefire. The meeting will be attended by the senior echelon of both sides and U-S envoy Zinni.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, it goes on to say, will lead the Israeli delegation.

The surprise announcement came after an evening meeting between U-S envoy Anthony Zinni and Prime Minister Sharon. Earlier in the day, Mr. Zinni met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides in Ramallah, on the West Bank.

Mr. Zinni arrived in Israel on Thursday on this, his third mission to achieve a ceasefire and end the violence that has claimed more than one-thousand-300 victims in the past 18 months.(Signed)

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