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Last Updated: Friday, November 12th, 2004 HOME | Previous Page
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What the world leaders say
World leaders reacted to the death early Thursday of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat by accepting him
as a symbol of his people's cause, but differed sharply over his contribution to the Middle East peace process.
They united, however, in calling for an end to the long-running and bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict via a lasting
peace settlement that would include the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
US President George W. Bush, who had sought to marginalise Arafat, said his death was "a significant moment
in Palestinian history," according to a White House statement.
Arafat, 75, died in a French military hospital close to Paris after being airlifted there from his Ramallah headquarters
on October 29. He had been in a coma since the middle of last week.
"For the Palestinian people, we hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations
for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors," Bush said.
While he is the first US president to formally endorse the creation of an independent Palestinian state, Bush had
always made it clear that he regarded Arafat as a "failed" leader.
Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton, who engineered the historic handshake on the White House lawn as Arafat and then
Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin signed the 1993 Oslo peace accords, expressed condolences tinged with regret.
He said that while Arafat's "greatest moment" was that handshake, "I regret that in 2000 (at further
peace talks) he missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being."
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Arafat had "symbolized... the national aspirations of the Palestinian
people."
By signing the Oslo accords, "he took a giant step towards the realisation of this vision. It is tragic that
he did not live to see it fulfilled.
"Now that he has gone, both Israelis and Palestinians, and the friends of both peoples throughout the world,
must make even greater efforts to bring about the peaceful realization of the Palestinian right of self-determination.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav said he hoped a new Palestinian leadership "will take a new path with a view
to putting an end to terrorism and violence, which would allow a resumption of negotiations."
"I hope the Palestinians will quickly know how to overcome their grief, and that their new leaders will act
to help them escape the suffering and distress in which they have been plunged," he added.
But Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, describing Arafat as a "founding father of terrorism," said
it was "good that the world is rid of him ... The sun is shining in the Middle East."
French President Jacques Chirac, who paid a final homage Thursday at the hospital where Arafat died, said: "With
him disappears a man of courage and conviction who for 40 years incarnated the Palestinians' fight for recognition
of their national rights."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the peace process was the "highest priority" for the international
community.
"We will do whatever we can working with the US and EU to help the parties reach a fair and durable settlement,"
he said.
Jordan decreed a 40-day mourning period at the royal court and three days nationwide as King Abdullah II expressed
"deep sadness and pain."
"The Palestinian people, despite their deep pain, will know how to overcome its sorrow and pursue its efforts
to recover the rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,"
an official statement said.
In Moscow, a Kremlin spokeswoman quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that Arafat's death was "a
heavy loss for the Palestinian leadership, (for) the whole Palestinian people."
Chinese President Hu Jintao called Arafat "a brilliant leader" and "a great friend" of China
and urged Palestinians to continue efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.
Echoing Clinton's words, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said history would judge Arafat harshly for failing
to embrace an Israeli peace offer four years ago.
"I think if Arafat had grabbed hold of that opportunity in the dying days of the Clinton administration then
the path of things in the Middle East may have been smoother," he said.
South African President Thabo Mbeki expressed his "deepest regret" at the death of a "giant of the
struggle of the poor and struggle of the oppressed," in the words of presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo.
Khumalo said Mbeki would attend Friday's funeral in Cairo.
India hailed Arafat as "an enduring symbol of Palestinian nationhood" while Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi called him a "pioneer" of his cause.
"Yasser Arafat spent his entire life for the Palestinian cause. We pray that his mission is completed after
his death," Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press from Saudi Arabia,
where he was performing the Muslim pilgrimage.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder credited Arafat with striving to lead the Palestinians to independence, regretting
that "it was not granted to Yasser Arafat to complete his life's work."
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