CAIRO Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Arab foreign ministers on Sunday that an independent state with Bait-ul-Moqaddas as its capital was the least his people could accept in a peace deal with Israel.
"We are not going to accept a settlement at any cost," the Palestinian president said at the start of a two-day ministerial meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo.
He later held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa before leaving the Egyptian capital to return to Gaza.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Shara returned home unexpectedly and without public explanation before the Arab ministers met for an evening session.
United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Rashid Abdullah Al-Nuaimi also left early.
Diplomats said before the Arab League meeting that differences between Egypt, seeking a compromise, and Syria, which takes a harder line, might prevent the ministers from reaching a strong common stand on Bait-ul-Moqaddas.
(Reuter)