US reaches out to EU on Mideast peace after Arafat

WASHINGTON—The Bush administration is reaching out to European allies for a possible new push for peace in the Middle East if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is replaced by more moderate leaders, US and diplomatic sources said on Monday.

A senior Bush administration official said US and EU officials met on Friday at the White House to discuss efforts to revive the “road map” peace plan and how the death of Arafat, who is critically ill in a French military hospital, would change “the realities in the region.”