• Meeting begins on sour note ...
• ... but ends on positive note
• Speaker responds to State Department criticism
• Gingrich: 'Madeleine Albright is a good friend of mine'
• Related stories and sites

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Despite Palestinian anger with Newt Gingrich over the U.S. speaker's outspoken pro-Israel stance in stalled peace talks, Palestinian officials were upbeat following talks on Wednesday between Gingrich and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

Meantime, Gingrich accused the Clinton administration of making a personal attack on him while he was overseas trying to help promote U.S. peace policy.

Meeting begins on sour note ...

It was unclear until the last minute whether Arafat would agree to meet with Gingrich, who on Tuesday declared he considered Jerusalem the "united and eternal capital of Israel."

The Palestinians want to establish a capital in east Jerusalem, captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of Arafat's Cabinet, said that while the Palestinians considered Gingrich's statements "extremely provocative," they did not want to miss an opportunity to get their views across.

"We want to make clear to Mr. Gingrich that there is a Palestinian side, and there are issues that cannot be meddled in," said Ashrawi, the minister of higher education.

... but ends on positive note

Arafat

Despite the potential for a cool encounter, the 90-minute meeting went well, Palestinian officials told CNN.

Both Gingrich and Arafat shook hands as they emerged from the Palestinian leader's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Gingrich said he believed Mideast peace was in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians.

"We had very positive talks. We focused on creating security for all in the region," Gingrich said.

Arafat made no comment but Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said the meeting "was a very important dialogue between the Palestinians and the U.S. Congress, which is biased to Israel. Gingrich listened very carefully on all the issues."

Speaker responds to State Department criticism

Gingrich

Gingrich heads a 25-member congressional delegation that arrived in Israel on Saturday.

From the start, the trip was plagued by controversy, some sparked by Gingrich's outspoken support for Israeli positions in the negotiations with the Palestinians.

Gingrich has accused U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration of siding with the Palestinians by pressuring Israel to carry out a 13 percent pullout from the West Bank.

"Israel alone must determine its security needs," Gingrich told Israel's parliament on Tuesday.

Earlier this month in Washington, the speaker accused Clinton of blackmailing the Israeli government on behalf of Arafat. At the time, he called Secretary of State Madeleine Albright an "agent for the Palestinians."

The remark drew fire on Tuesday from the Clinton administration. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Albright considered the comment outrageous.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Gingrich's "suggestion that the secretary of state is loyal to anyone but the people of the United States of America is highly offensive."

Speaking to reporters in Israel on Wednesday, Gingrich at first denied that he had made any personal attack on Albright.

Gingrich: 'Madeleine Albright is a good friend of mine'

Albright

"Of course not, I would never say that," Gingrich said. "Madeleine Albright is a good friend of mine. I never made any statements talking about the secretary of state's personal behavior."

However, to a later question, Gingrich was less certain in his denial, saying he would look up what had been said in Washington.

"I can't imagine any reference like that so I'm going to go back and try to find out exactly what they are referring to."

Gingrich said he didn't understand why the administration was now making an issue of the May 12 remarks and suggested it was unfair to attack him while he was overseas and unable to defend himself.

Gingrich suggested that Rubin should be "polite" and not attack him personally.

"You supposedly pay spokespeople to avoid fights -- not get you into them," said Gingrich.

"We are going to write a letter to secretary today asking her why her spokesperson would make a personality attack on a legislative leader when he is out of the country," he said.

He stressed that he was "trying to be helpful" which was why he was meeting with Arafat.

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Special sections:

• Struggle For Peace
• Israel at 50

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• Allpolitics - Gingrich Withdraws From Symposium In Israel - May 25, 1998
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Related sites:

• Office of the Israeli Prime Minister
• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Israel Information Service - Gopher server
• Palestinian National Authority - official site of the PNA
• The Palestine Ministry Of Information
• ArabNet