Morocco's king arranging Shalom-Sha'ath meeting

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is initiating a meeting in his country between Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Palestinian Authority counterpart, Nabil Sha'ath.

Diplomatic sources in New York said Morocco's ruler aired plans for the meeting during a discussion with Shalom on Wednesday. No date has been set; however, the sources said, the king has indicated he intends for it to take place as soon as possible.

The king's motive, the sources claimed, is to set the stage for the reopening of Morocco's diplomatic facilities in Israel.

Wednesday's meeting in New York between Shalom and Mohammed was their second in the past month. The king said he arranged the second meeting as an act of friendship; and he rejected reports claiming the first meeting was held in order to win support in Washington for Morocco's own national interests.

Meanwhile, in a meeting Thursday in New York with Shalom, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Israel against "taking irreversible steps against Yasser Arafat."

"We have no illusions" regarding the PA chairman, Powell said. "Any illusions we had regarding Arafat were put to rest a year and a half ago." Yet Powell expressed doubts about Israel's "assumption that somebody more moderate will come after Arafat."

In a speech delivered to the United Nations General Assembly Thursdayday, Shalom declared that "Israel is committed to the vision of the Middle East's future that President Bush formulated in his address of June 24, 2002." Israel, Shalom said, "will not compromise about matters of security, but will go the extra mile, as it has in the past, to bring peace and security to both [Palestinian and Israeli] peoples."