Arafat says Palestinian statehood possible within weeks

Barak, meanwhile, accused Palestinians of deliberately placing obstacles in the path of a Camp David-style summit. A U.S. mediator was working to assess prospects for a three-way gathering of Arafat, Barak and President Clinton in order to try to meet a Sept. 13 deadline for a final peace treaty. Arafat's speech to a conference of his Fatah faction in the West Bank town of Nablus was full of the type of fiery rhetoric he customarily rolls out for such occasions -- but even so, the timing was sensitive, as the two sides move into what a senior Palestinian official called "the last half-hour" of a push to reach a sweeping accord. In a show of defiance that was cheered wildly by the crowd, Arafat scoffed at an assertion earlier this month by Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, Israel's army chief of staff, that Israel would use tanks and helicopter gunships if necessary to quell any outbreak of rioting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "We don't get threatened by tanks and planes -- no one can threaten us," said the 70-year-old Palestinian leader, his voice strong although his hand holding the microphone trembled violently. "Whoever has forgotten, I want to remind him of ... seven years of intifada (uprising) and I say we are willing to start again." Arafat also reasserted Palestinian claims to a capital in Jerusalem, over which Israel insists it will retain sovereignty.