
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 7, 1993                   TAG: 9310070053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAIRO, EGYPT                                LENGTH: Short

ARAFAT, RABIN GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat started trying to turn words of peace into reality Wednesday, but there were signs that generations of enmity would not be easy to erase.

The Israeli prime minister and Palestine Liberation Organization leader had no handshake for the cameras at their first official meeting, which ended with separate news conferences.

Still, the longtime adversaries said their 90-minute meeting at Egypt's Unity Palace was constructive. And they announced the formation of four committees to work out the details of last month's accord on limited Palestinian self-rule in Israeli-occupied territories.

Making peace, already hard, will be made more difficult by the violence in the occupied lands. Rabin asked for the meeting, out of concern, Israeli officials said, that only a high-level encounter could put the accord into motion.

by CNB