The Palestinian leadership is likely to scrap its plan to declare an independent state on September 13th. Speaking in Indonesia, during a tour of more than 20 countries, the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, said he would "reassess" the matter and a final decision would be taken and when the 129-member Central Council, the PLO's mini-parliament, meets on September 8th and 9th.
Mr Arafat first chose September 13th for the declaration of the Palestinian state because this date marked the end of the "transition period" of Palestinian autonomy specified in the First Oslo accord, and because it is the deadline set by Israel for the signing of a permanent accord.
Dr Ghassan Khatib, a leading Palestinian commentator, told The Irish Times that the central council was expected to leave "the choice of the specific date to the president and the [PLO] executive committee".
There has been speculation that Mr Arafat could put forward November 15th, the anniversary of the 1988 proclamation of Palestinian independence at Algiers, as an alternative date for declaring statehood.
However, Dr Khatib said: "No new date has been officially mentioned. The feeling is there will be no declaration before the US and Israel agree".
A Palestinian cabinet minister who wished to remain anonymous quipped: "Arafat is collecting pressure to use as an excuse to postpone" the declaration. During his world tour, Mr Arafat has visited Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
According to Palestinian sources, most leaders consulted by Mr Arafat supported the principle of Palestinian statehood but also warned him against a unilateral declaration of independence.
Polls show that only one-third of Palestinians believe Mr Arafat will declare a state next month, so he is not under serious domestic pressure to take this step. He is, however, under strong pressure to produce an agreement with Israel that both Palestinians and Arabs can accept.
The Palestinian President has turned to President Mubarak of Egypt for help in formulating a new proposal on Jerusalem, the most contentious issue. Mr Arafat is likely to rely all the more on Cairo at this juncture because the US sent the State Department envoy, Mr Dennis Ross, to the region to secure progress in talks which resumed on Wednesday.
Before the Camp David summit, Mr Arafat specifically asked President Clinton not to employ Mr Ross as a mediator, accusing the Middle East envoy of having a "pro-Israeli bias", according to Dr Khatib.
