Trade talks in Seattle fall apart: ; U.S. official says protests did not derail gathering

SEATTLE - The push for new global trade talks collapsed in amajor defeat for the Clinton administration, leaving labor andenvironmental activists cheering today as weary, disappointednegotiators wondered how to go forward.

The failure of the World Organization Trade session late Friday -following violent protests that turned downtown Seattle intosomething resembling a combat zone - was a stark illustration thatany further liberalization to global commerce won't come easily.

"We won," said Tracy Katelman, an activist from the Alliance forSustainable Jobs and the Environment who had worked to shut down theWTO talks. "We really disrupted it. We certainly created …