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Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat listens as Secretary of Commerce Richard Daley, right, speaks at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., Sunday Nov. 29, 1998, during a meeting with American businessmen. Arafat said Sunday that he hopes 1999 will be "the year of the independent Palestinian State" and urged the US President, who travels to Gaza next month, to help him protect the peace. At left is Hasan Abdul Rahman, head of the PLO office in Washington. (KEYSTONE/AP Photo/Joel Rennich)