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US Support for Palestinian Statehood "Extremely Important:" Arafat
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said on Tuesday that the recent US statement on supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state was "extremely important."
"I am optimistic about the (Middle East) peace process," Arafat told reporters upon returning from a European tour, citing European Union (EU), U.S. and Russian promises on pushing forward the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
"We are constantly following efforts made by leaders of the European Union, the U.S., Russia, Arab and Muslim countries as well as China," he said.
Although Israel is supposed to ease up its restrictions on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it has not done so, he added.
Arafat termed his visits to Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands as "very important."
"We discussed with leaders of the three countries plans offered by the EU, the U.S. and Russia on a Palestinian state," he added.
"We reaffirmed our opposition to all sorts of terrorism, including Israel's state terrorism against the Palestinians and the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S.," he said.
Leaders of the U.S., Britain and Russia have voiced support recently for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
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