DATE=3/24/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CHENEY MIDEAST (S)

NUMBER=2-287922

BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Vice-President Dick Cheney says he has no current plans to meet with Yasser Arafat. V-O-A's Paula Wolfson reports Mr. Cheney says the Palestinian leader still has not done enough to stop attacks on Israel.

TEXT: The Vice-President says it is unlikely he will see Yasser Arafat before this week's Arab League Summit in Beirut.

/// CHENEY ACT ///

The conditions on the ground have not warranted my going forward with a meeting.

/// END ACT ///

During an appearance on the N-B-C television program "Meet the Press," Mr. Cheney said he would not rule out a meeting in the future. He said he is waiting for word from Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni that Yasser Arafat is meeting the agreed-to conditions for talks.

/// CHENEY ACT TWO ///

This is all going to depend upon what happens on the ground in Israel. I will be guided very much by General Zinni's thinking.

/// END ACT ///

Vice-President Cheney recently completed a 10-day trip to the region. His original focus was the war on terrorism, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominated many of his stops in Arab countries. (SIGNED)

NEB/PW/RAE