Albright, Arafat Grim After Meeting

RAMALLAH, West Bank: While their words were diplomatic, the body language of U.S. Secretary of State Albright and Palestinian President Arafat at their joint press conference Thursday showed they were clearly uncomfortable with each others views expressed during three hours of talks, reports TIME Jerusalem Bureau Chief Lisa Beyer. "The two of them were very grim. They didn't even look at each other, except at the very end, when they shook hands," says Beyer. "Though Albright made some diplomatic remarks, she made it very clear he had not sufficiently answered American and Israeli demands."

The chief focus of Albright's peace mission here has been to press Palestinians to root out terrorism. Palestinians complained that Israel is retaliating for terrorist raids by expanding Jewish settlements. Albright responded by saying, "There is no moral equivalent between killing people and building houses." Says Beyer: "It seemed pretty clear that the meeting didn't go well."