The President also braved sweltering heat and some gentle jostling from throngs of emotional mourners as he marched five km in a funeral procession to bury King Hassan, whom he hailed as one of the Middle East's ``greatest peacemakers.''

White House officials said Clinton was determined to complete the march as a sign of respect for Hassan and his critical, behind-the-scenes initiatives to promote peace between Arabs and Israelis.

National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said the President had been moved and exhilarated by the outpouring of love and grief from an estimated two million people who lined the streets as the procession made its way from the royal palace to the mausoleum.

Berger conceded the situation was ``a little bit dicey'' at the start of the march whenoverwrought mourners surged toward the military vehicle bearing Hassan's casket, draped in a cloth embroidered with verses from the Koran.

Clinton and several other dignitaries -- notably French President Jacques Chirac, King Juan Carlos of Spain and King Abdullah of Jordan -- were walking just behind the casket.

But US officials stressed that security forces quickly intervened and that Clinton was not endangered.

Berger said Clinton also found time to confer with most of the world leaders here, in one instance breaking new ground by bringing together Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel and the crown prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah.

In another encounter that Berger said may have set a precedent, Barak spoke with Algerian President Abdelazziz Bouteflika.

Clinton also met informally with Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, once with the two men together and later separately.

Berger said the conversations focused on the need to exploit a new willingness by the parties toovercome obstacles that have so far prevented implementation of previous Israeli-Palestinian peace accords.

US officials said it was entirely fitting that the funeral of King Hassan, who died Friday of a heart attack at age 70, should serve as a stage for peacemaking efforts, however informal.

Clinton hailed Hassan as ``a wise king and a good man,'' who in 1977 brought together senior Egyptian and Israeli officials at the start of an initiative that yielded a formal peace treaty between their two countries two years later.

``I think of him... as a pathfinder,'' Clinton told staff of the US embassy here.

``A leader who survived, yes, but who survived to expand the possibilities of the Moroccan people and all the people of the region.''

Clinton was expected to hold further talks later on Sunday with Arafat and Bouteflika before returning to Washington.

A noticeable no-show here Sunday was Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, a key figure in the search for a comprehensive Middle East peace. US andIsraeli officials had hoped the Hassan funeral would enable Barak and Assad to firm up tentative overtures each has made to the other in recent weeks.

Clinton led a senior US delegation here that included former US President George Bush and two former secretaries of state, James Baker and Warren Christopher.