Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yesterday was quoted as saying that the US-backed "road map" for Middle East peace is dead and that Israel is to blame.
The plan, launched June 4, calls on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to end nearly three years of violence and envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.
PHOTO: AFP
The plan has been stalled for several weeks because of renewed fighting and a deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians on the dismantling of armed groups. Israel has accused Arafat of getting in the way of the road map and trying to undermine his prime minister, the US-backed Mahmoud Abbas, at every turn.
The CNN Web site yesterday quoted Arafat as saying the peace plan has no future.
"The road map is dead, but only because of Israeli military aggression in recent weeks," Arafat said.
The latest escalation was set off by a Hamas bus bombing in Jerusalem in mid-August in which 21 people died. Since then, 16 Palestinians -- 11 Palestinian militants and five bystanders -- have been killed in six Israeli helicopter strikes in the Gaza Strip. After the first of the strikes -- which killed Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab -- Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups announced that they were cancelling a seven week ceasefire with Israel.
Meanwhile, calling Arafat the biggest obstacle to peace, an Israeli defense minister said on Tuesday that Israel could seek to expel the Palestinian leader by the end of the year,
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who has long supported expelling Arafat, issued the warning as Arafat and Abbas remained locked in a power struggle.
Abbas is increasingly unpopular at home and could be ousted, possibly in a parliament vote next week. Arafat and Abbas have clashed on control of security forces and key appointments, threatening a rift that could hinder peace efforts.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Ghassan Khatib said Mofaz's threat of expelling Arafat only raised tensions, "but is consistent with the spirit of escalation of the Israeli leadership."
In an interview with Israel's Army Radio, Mofaz said Arafat was blocking progress on the road map.
"Arafat, of course, has become the most significant obstacle both to the leadership of [Abbas] and to the peace process," Mofaz said. "I think that he has to disappear from the stage of history, and not be included in the ranks of the Palestinian leadership."
The defense minister said Israel made a "historic mistake" when it decided not to exile him two years ago.
"With regard to the future, I think we will be compelled to deal with this issue within a relatively short period of time, very possibly even this year," he said.
Mofaz said if Israel decides to expel Arafat, the timing would have to be chosen carefully so as not to undermine Abbas, who Israel believes is serious about reaching a peace deal.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
RSS