Peace talks cancelled over Arafat’s lambast
Prime Minister Ehud Barak will not meet Yasser Arafat before February’s elections after the Palestinian leader lambasted Israel in a speech.
The announcement, from Israeli officials, came only hours after Arafat’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
However, Arafat said that he was still in favour of the peace process and wanted to meet Barak this week.
Barak’s security advisor, Danny Yatom, called Arafat’s speech ‘‘bellicose, inflammatory and intolerable’’ and said such a meeting was now out of the question.
Arafat accused Israel of waging a ‘‘barbaric war’’ and using depleted uranium against Palestinians in four months of clashes. In a statement today, Israel’s army emphatically denied using depleted uranium.
A total of 375 people have been killed, including more than 330 Arabs and more than 40 Israeli Jews since the fighting began in September.
In response to Arafat’s speech, Barak’s office said he ‘‘decided not to continue political contacts with Arafat and his people until after the elections.’’ Security cooperation would continue, Barak said.
Arafat and Barak had reportedly been planning to meet in Stockholm, Sweden, this week to follow up on six days of peace talks in Taba, Egypt.
After a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Arafat said he had not meant to speak against the peace process, and just wanted to emphasise Palestinian suffering.
Barak had hoped the peace negotiations in Egypt would revive his sagging campaign for prime minister. Recent polls put him 16% behind opposition leader and hard-liner Ariel Sharon.
Both Israeli and Palestinian negotiators offered an upbeat assessment of the talks that concluded Saturday, saying they had never been closer to an overall agreement.
