THE President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Yasser Arafat, is due in Dublin today on the second leg of a tour aimed at winning European support for the Palestinian position in the Middle East peace talks.
With negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis at a critical impasse, Mr Arafat is looking to Norway and the European Union to put pressure on the Israeli leader, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, to abide by the Oslo Accords which have been ratified by the Knesset.
The Americans, sponsors of the current talks, reacted furiously to Mr Arafat's departure, which they see as putting peace talks on hold just as a successful conclusion was apparently within reach.
Arriving in Oslo, Mr Arafat denied that his decision to go ahead with his tour had harmed the negotiations. But Mr Netanyahu said he had "no doubt" that final agreement on Israeli military redeployment in Hebron was only hours away.
President Clinton had telephoned both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Arafat late on Sunday to urge them to close the deal there and then. And the US mediator, Mr Dennis Ross, who has presided over three weeks of intensive talks, announced he was returning to Washington, noting: "Clearly the pace of negotiations is affected when the leaders are not here.
The provisions for Israel's pullout from most of Hebron, the last West Bank city it controls, were agreed in the Oslo B accord of September, 1995. But Mr Netanyahu's hardline government has demanded the renegotiation of some elements to boost security, it says, for the 48 settler families in the heart of the city.
Most of the new Israeli demands have been resolved over the three weeks of talks. What was holding up the deal now said Mr Shimon Peres, the leader of the moderate Labour opposition, was the "complete breakdown of trust" between the sides - particularly in the light of the late September Israeli Palestinian gun battles.
Having refused to meet Mr Arafat for more than two months after coming to power in June, it is now Mr Netanyahu, somewhat ironically, who is keen to implement the Hebron redeployment while Mr Arafat appears to be anticipating a tougher US line on Israel after President Clinton has secured re election.
Now Mr Netanyahu faces a tough battle even getting the redeployment deal approved by his cabinet, and the threat of violence by extremist settlers and their supporters is on the rise.
On Sunday, in a reminder of the potential for more violence. a Hebron settler sprayed gunfire at Palestinian buildings in the city, saying his car had been attacked with stones and bottles.
And following another incident, a West Bank settlement security chief is being held in connection with the death of a 12 year old Palestinian boy. Palestinian eyewitnesses say the settler beat the boy's head with his pistol on Sunday settlers say the settler's car was stoned, that he chased the stone throwers, and that the boy fell.
Preliminary post mortem results showed the boy died from a blow to the left side of the head.
. In Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers appointed a Spanish diplomat, Mr Miguel Moratinos, as its representative in the Middle East, in a bid to raise the European profile in the peace process.
Mr Moratinos is currently the Spanish ambassador to Israel and director of Spain's Institute for Co operation with Africa and the Middle East. He played a prominent role in the Madrid peace talks.