Arafat Accuses Israel of Wanting "Tailor-made Peace"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Monday in Abu Dhabi that what Israel wants is a "tailor-made" peace which will be rejected not only by the Palestinians but also by the Arab and Islamic nations.Arafat, who arrived here Sunday night from Libya as part of a tour to garner support for the Palestinians, made the remark at a meeting with Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. He briefed Khalifa on the collapsed Camp David summit and the international reactions based on his ongoing tour, stressing that the Palestinians are determined to continue their struggle and steadfastness to set up their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. He praised UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan's repeated calls for a unified Arab stance in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and his full support to the Palestinian position on the issues of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. During the meeting, Khalifa reaffirmed the UAE's support for the Palestinians, urging the United States, the main broker in the Middle East peace process, to observe impartiality and seek solutions which conform with the related international resolutions. Khalifa also reiterated the need for Israel to return East Jerusalem it seized in the 1967 Mideast War to Palestinian sovereignty, according to the official news agency WAM. Khalifa hailed Arafat's position at the Camp David talks and his firm stand against all kinds of pressure to force him to make concessions on the future of Jerusalem. Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and U.S. President Bill Clinton held a marathon summit at Camp David, a presidential retreat near Washington, last month trying to seal an agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian final status. The talks failed to produce such an agreement due to the gaps between the two sides on the thorny issues including Jerusalem, statehood, Jewish settlements, refugees, water and security. Arafat repeatedly announced he will declare Palestinian statehood on September 13, even without a peace deal with Israel, which has met threatening objection from the U.S. and Israel. |
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