Peres urges Arafat to take charge of Palestinians' destiny
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the two statesmen met for 45 mintues, and called the meeting "important, good and to the point."
Foreign Minister Peres praised Powell and U.S. President George W. Bush for their position on Israel's current operation. Peres also met with his Russian counter, Igor Ivanov in Bucharest.
Peres told reporters at the conference Tuesday that "we (Israel) do not see Arabs, Muslims or Palestinians as our enemy, our only enemy is terror."
He called on Arafat to take responsibility for the destiny of the Palestinians and warned that they would never win independence by violent means.
"If the Palestinians are divided between different armed groups, they will be able to do nothing really to build a new society or to build an independent state," Peres told European foreign ministers gathered for an anti-terrorism conference in Bucharest.
"As long as they're divided, they are endangering the destiny of the Palestinians," he said, calling on Arafat to be responsible for the destiny of the Palestinians. "We don't want to rule their future", he said.
Peres said there were too many armed Palestinian groups pulling the region into different directions, and he urged Arafat to consolidate his command with a central authority over all the armed forces.
Peres says U.S., Europe have key role in peace talks
Peres said on Monday the United States and Europe had a key part to play in restoring Middle East peace by telling Arafat they would no longer tolerate him looking the other way on terrorism.
Speaking after Israel launched military action against Palestinian authorities for a series of weekend suicide attacks against Israel, Peres called on Arafat to immediately arrest those linked to the bombings and head off any future attacks.
Peres told CNN's "Larry King Live" that Arafat had to prove he was still leader of the Palestinian cause.
"He has to decide, are the Palestinians four camps, each of them armed with rifles, or are they one camp and one address," Peres said.
"He has to decide not if he's a partner or an enemy, but if he's the leader or not. Because if he's going to be a leader just of a small fraction of the Palestinian life, he will hardly be able to manage his own affairs."
Asked how Arafat could convince Israel he seriously wanted peace, Peres replied: "To outlaw the other three organizations that have arms and bombs and use them."
Peres did not name the three organizations but he was apparently referring to extremist groups like Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for suicide attacks on Israeli targets.
Peres said there was unease in Israel that there could be further attacks on the horizon.
"We have warnings, We are trying to prevent further action," Peres said.
Asked if there was a role for the United States in ending Middle East violence, Peres replied: "Very much so, because one of the two and three most important ways to bring an end to terror is to tell Mr. Arafat and the Palestinians that the United States and Europe can no longer support the way he acts or avoids acting against terror." |
