US envoy in Middle East

The American envoy Anthony Zinni is heading to the Middle East this week to try and rescue flagging peace attempts.

It will be his second visit to the region in a month.

He is expected to ask Yasser Arafat to disband militant groups and will urge Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians.

Meanwhile violence has marked the arrival of 2002 in the West Bank towns of Nablus and Ramallah as fighting erupted between hundreds of young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.