Questions have been raised in the Arab world about Washington's credibility as "honest broker" in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis following remarks made to Israeli television on Friday by President Clinton.
He praised the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, as being "more creative and courageous" than the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, during the Camp David summit and warned that Mr Arafat would be "making a big mistake" if he declared independence unilaterally.
Mr Clinton said he was reviewing his decision to freeze the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem, a move which would effectively recognise Israel's sovereignty over the disputed city.
A furious Mr Arafat said during a visit to Paris on Saturday that he would declare a state "when the time is right", depending on the "advice of friends".
Mr Arafat met with Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday and is to travel to Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan to consult with Arab allies.
Dr Nabil Shaath, Palestinian Minister of Planning, said Mr Clinton was "unfair" and the Palestinian legislator, Dr Hanan Ashrawi, called his remarks "blatant political blackmail".
The spokesman of the opposition Islamist Hamas movement, Mr Mahmoud Zohar, warned the US that "its interests will be in danger in all Islamic states" if it moved its embassy to Jerusalem.
Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hizbullah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, threatened yesterday to destroy the US embassy in Israel and kill its diplomats if the mission was moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
"You can move your embassy to Jerusalem but honest people can turn your embassy to rubble and send back your diplomats in coffins," he said in south Lebanon.
