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Israeli FM Criticizes PM's Terming Arafat "Murderer"
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Wednesday indirectly criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's remarks in which he called Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a "murderer" and "pathological liar."
"If we declare Arafat a terrorist, then we would not be able to talk to him," Peres said in an interview with Israel Radio, chiding Sharon's remarks made to the Russian television channel NTV on Tuesday.
Sharon's remarks were later broadcast on Israeli television channel two.
"It is impossible to ignore the change that has taken place recently in the (Palestinian) territories," Peres said.
"We should act with moderation to give Arafat a chance to put the ceasefire into effect," he added.
Peres was referring to a ceasefire order issued by Arafat on Saturday, which has helped keep the region relatively calm in the past three days despite sporadic clashes.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Jewish settlers clashed with Palestinians near a site north of the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Palestinians reportedly fired at the settlers while the settlers also set Palestinian houses nearby on fire. No one was injured in the clashes.
The more than eight months of clashes between the two sides have so far left more than 570 people dead, most of them Palestinians.
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