Albright urges end to confrontation

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said yesterday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could and should stop the violence gripping the West Bank and Gaza, and Israeli forces should step back from confrontation.

As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak pressed an ultimatum to Yasser Arafat to rein in Palestinian rock-throwers by Monday night, Albright refused to assign blame to either side for the worst Palestinian-Israeli violence in four years.

Barak, on NBC's "Meet the Press," insisted Arafat "initiated this whole series of events, ... (and) we know he can stop it" within 12 hours. If he does not, "it means he deliberately decided to put an end to the peace process and go back into a conflict," the prime minister said from Israel.

Israel already has used armor, helicopters and live ammunition in confrontations with Palestinians, leaving more than 80 dead. Barak did not say what additional force he might use in any escalation. But on CBS' "Face the Nation," Barak registered his determination to defend Israel.

As Barak and others made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, Israel's army was building its force on another front, along the northern border with Lebanon. Iranian-backed Hezbollah Lebanese guerrillas captured three Israeli soldiers Saturday.

The White House was working to arrange a meeting soon between Clinton and the region's leaders, possibly in Egypt, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.