The Algiers meeting was more open and publicized than any previous Palestinian session.

The Algiers meeting was not "moderation."

The Algiers meeting is also important because the P.L.O. is trying to help set up a Middle East peace conference.

But even during the Algiers meeting, Arab officials from the Persian Gulf region disputed similar assertions by Arafat aides.

The Algiers meeting said it considered them to be the basis for an international conference on Middle East peace and Palestinian political rights, particularly the right to self-determination.

While widely expected, the actions at the Algiers meeting have galvanized the region.

He was at the Algiers meeting and made mocking remarks to the press about the murder of Mr. Klinghoffer.

But did the Algiers meeting embrace him or his views?

"We feel now that the ball is in the American court," Mr. Arafat said after the Algiers meeting.

After the Algiers meeting, debated had raged over whether the Palestinians had implicitly recognized Israel and truly renounced terrorism.