Powell scraps Arafat meeting, but may reschedule | |
JERUSALEM, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has cancelled his meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Saturday, Powell's spokesman said, but a U.S. official said the talks might go ahead on Sunday. Referring to a female suicide bomber who killed six other people and injured 90 more in a central Jerusalem market, the spokesman Richard Boucher said: "In light of today's developments, the secretary will not be meeting with Chairman Arafat Saturday." But a senior State Department official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the meeting could be rescheduled. "Sunday is a possibility," he said. Boucher said Powell wanted Arafat to condemn the attack but did not say it was a condition for the meeting. "The secretary condemns in the strongest possible terms today's terrorist attack and expects Chairman Arafat to do so as well," he said. The State Department spokesman, travelling with Powell on a crisis Middle East mission, said Powell would meet aid workers in Jerusalem on Saturday to investigate humanitarian problems in the West Bank following Israel's incursions into Palestinian towns. ((Jerusalem newsroom, 972-2-537-0502, jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com))