A Greek priest, 40, was shot to death around 10:30 last night while driving on the road linking Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood and Ma'aleh Adumim. The incident occured as Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was meeting CIA chief George Tenet in Ramallah. Arafat was expected to tell Tenet that the Palestinians agree in principle to the American sponsored plan for a cease-fire and resumption of peace talks, according to Palestinian sources. Prior to his meeting with Tenet, Arafat called in senior PA officials to discuss how to respond to the U.S. initiative after Israel signed on to the program earlier in the day.

The shooting of the Greek Orthodox monk took place near the army roadblock dividing Jerusalem from the West Bank. It was the first shooting incident on this stretch of the well-traveled road that continues past Ma'aleh Adumim to Jericho and the Dead Sea. The monk was on his way to a monastery in Wadi Kelt near Jericho.