31.   Also on the agenda for the unannounced meeting here were security aspects of a prospective Israeli troop pullback this summer on the West Bank timed to Palestinian elections.

32.   And the centrist Third Way party has given January as a deadline for Netanyahu to authorize a troop pullback.

33.   Another Netanyahu spokesman, Shai Bazak, denied that a decision had been made on a Hebron troop pullback or that a date had been set.

34.   Arafat was expected to ask Netanyahu to commit to a date for a further Israeli troop pullback from West Bank rural areas.

35.   Arafat has already said that he is ready to accept the American proposal despite his former demands for a much bigger troop pullback.

36.   Arafat has already said that he is ready to accept the American proposal despite his former demands for a much more extensive troop pullback.

37.   Arafat was expected to ask Netanyahu to commit to a timetable for further Israeli troop pullbacks from West Bank rural areas.

38.   Arafat expected Barak to give him a detailed timetable for two Israeli troop pullbacks in the West Bank and for the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

39.   Arafat has tentatively accepted the U.S. proposal, forgoing earlier demands for a much larger troop pullback.

40.   As part of the deal, Albright is also pushing Israel to come up with a detailed proposal for a West Bank troop pullback by mid-January.