Twenty-seven years ago today, on January 22, 1998 (December 24, 1997 lunar calendar), the US-Pakistan summit - to discuss the issue of saving the Middle East peace process. On January 22, Clinton met with Arafat at the White House. US President Clinton held his first meeting with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat at the White House on the 22nd to discuss the issue of saving the Middle East peace process. Arafat said after the meeting that he and Clinton discussed some solutions to the Middle East peace. It was a "very warm and constructive and important meeting." Arafat stressed that according to the agreement signed by the former Israeli Labor government and the Palestinians, Israel should return 60% of the land in the West Bank in addition to the 27% of the land it has already returned. Arafat arrived in Washington on the 21st. He said that the Palestinians did not have "excessive ideas", they just wanted to get what they deserved according to the agreement signed by the two sides, and the problem now is that Israel should "seriously implement" the agreement. Clinton said before the talks that the Middle East peace issue should not be delayed so much and that there should be a "sense of urgency." To speed up the settlement, Clinton was prepared to have Secretary of State Albright act as a mediator to facilitate talks between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, American officials said. Asked by reporters what Arafat's reaction was, the Palestinian leader said it was "encouraging." According to American and Palestinian officials, Mrs. Clinton envisioned a solution to the Middle East in which Palestinians would take a series of security measures, including fighting Islamist militants and sharing security intelligence with Israel, and Israel would gradually withdraw from the West Bank based on the level of security provided by those measures. But Mrs. Clinton did not propose how far Israel should withdraw from the region. President Clinton and Mr. Arafat were reported to be holding a second meeting that evening.