Cheney Says He Would Meet Arafat: Talks Hinge On Palestinian Leader's Efforts to Quell Violence

JERUSALEM, March 19 -- Vice President Cheney said today he would be willing to return to the Middle East as early as next week to meet Yasser Arafat if the Palestinian leader takes steps to calm the violence in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

A meeting between Cheney and Arafat -- which Cheney avoided during his two-day visit here -- would make the vice president the highest-ranking Bush administration official to meet the longtime Palestinian leader and cast him into the role of Middle East peacemaker that he has long avoided.