Washington will continue dealing with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian people, US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns said here Thursday, after Israel declared Arafat "irrelevant" and said it would no longer talk to him, reported AFP.
"We consider president Arafat to be the leader of the Palestinian people and we will continue to work with the Palestinian leadership as it must make the very difficult choices and move against the extremist groups who threaten the interests of the Palestinian people," Burns told a press conference in Damascus.
Burns, who is on a regional tour, was speaking after talks with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, who asked the United States to "play a more active role in halting the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people," according to Syria's official SANA news agency.
During the special cabinet meeting Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, "From our point of view, Arafat no longer exists. Period."
The prime minister convened special cabinet meeting following the ambush of a bus near the West Bank settlement of Emmanuel, in which 10 settlers were killed and dozens injured, and a botched double suicide attack in the Gaza Strip in which four Israelis were lightly injured.
The cabinet decided Israel itself would act to defend itself “because the Palestinian Authority is not fulfilling its obligations to battle terror,” said the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz – Albawaba.com
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