DATE=03/26/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S-2nd UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-288024

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

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INTRO: Palestinian officials say Chairman Yasser Arafat will not attend an Arab summit in Beirut. Correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo says President Yasser Arafat has decided not to attend the Arab League summit in Lebanon.

The decision came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said conditions were "not ripe" for the Jewish state to lift travel restrictions on the Palestinian leader, who has been confined to the West Bank since early December.

Mr. Sharon said that the Palestinian leader should declare a cease-fire and call for an end to violence after a nearly 18-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation.

Prime Minister Sharon also said the United States should guarantee that if there are terrorist attacks if Mr. Arafat travels to Beirut, Israel should not have to allow him to return to the Palestinian territories.

The Arab League summit is expected to focus on a proposal by Saudi Arabia that calls on Arab countries to end the conflict with Israel in return for a total withdrawal by the Jewish state from land captured during the 1967 Middle East war. (Signed)

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