International reaction to Arafat's death
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 11, 2004
UN: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Arafat had "expressed and symbolized in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people."
At the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United Nations' flag has been flying at half mast.
The EUROPEAN UNION praised Yasser Arafat on Thursday for his "single-minded commitment" to the Palestinian cause and pledged to work with the new Palestinian leadership to find peace in the Middle East.
"Although he has not lived to see the birth of a Palestinian state, we will work with the Palestinian authorities and the international community to contribute to realizing the aspirations of the Palestinian people," said a statement on behalf of the EU from Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot.
UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed condolences Thursday following the death of Yasser Arafat, saying the Palestinian leader "came to symbolize the Palestinian national movement."
"He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 jointly with Yitzhak Rabin in recognition of their efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. He led his people to an historic acceptance and the need for a two-state solution," Blair said in a statement, according to a spokeswoman for his office.
"That goal of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel is one that we must continue to work tirelessly to achieve. Peace in the Middle East must be the international community's highest priority. We will do whatever we can, working with the US and the EU, to help the parties reach a fair and durable settlement.
"I would like to express my condolences to the family of President Arafat and to the Palestinian people," the prime minister said.
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said, "Such a towering figure in the Middle East, its hard to imagine the Middle East or the world without him."
"The best tribute to Arafat is to be faithful to the roadmap," he added.
GERMANY: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offered his condolences Thursday on the death of Yasser Arafat, describing it as a "great loss" to the Palestinian people.
"Yasser Arafat strove during his lifetime to lead the Palestinians to independence and establish a sovereign, viable Palestinian state," Schroeder wrote in a message to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. "It was not granted to Yasser Arafat to complete his life's work."
Schroeder expressed Germany's condolences on "the great loss that the Palestinian people have suffered."
His foreign minister, Joschka Fischer called for an orderly transfer of power, adding that "a leadership legitimized by swift elections which remains committed to a just peace settlement is of central significance."
"Yasser Arafat's life stands for the varied and tragic history of the Palestinian people and the Middle East as a whole," Fischer said in a statement. "In it were reflected many people's hopes for peace, but time and again also their disappointments and setbacks."
Fischer told reporters that he would attend Arafat's funeral.
FRANCE: "With him disappears the man of courage and conviction who, for 40 years, has incarnated the Palestinians' combat for recognition of their national rights," said French President Jacques Chirac, whose nation hosted the Palestinian leader in his dying days. "May the loss that they have just suffered unite the Palestinians."
b>BELGIUM: Belgium sent condolences to the Palestinians on the death of Yasser Arafat on Thursday, calling on all leaders to renew their support of the road map peace plan for the Middle East.
"With President Arafat, it is not only the first elected president of the Palestinian Authority who has passed away. The Palestinian People have also lost a historic figure," said a statement from Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht.
They expressed "strong hope that all leaders and all communities will work with a renewed and unconditional commitment to implement the road map, which should lead to Israeli and Palestinian states where the two peoples can coexist in security."
THE NETHERLANDS: The Netherlands holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Bot conveyed the EU's "profound condolences" to Arafat's wife and family and the Palestinian people.
"In him the Palestinian people, both within and outside the Palestinian Territories, have lost an historic leader and a democratically elected president, whose devotion and single-minded commitment to the Palestinian national cause throughout his life was never in doubt," said Bot's statement.
Bot commended the Palestinian leadership for "their demonstration of responsibility to maintain the functioning of Palestinian institutions in this difficult time."
He urged "the Palestinian people to gather behind its leadership and stressed that they may be assured of the undiminished support of the European Union on the path towards a peaceful, durable and just settlement of the conflict, which both they and the people of Israel so richly deserve."
Italy: Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi offered condolences for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death on Thursday and expressed hope that Palestinians will work peacefully to achieve statehood.
With Arafat's death, "the Palestinian people have lost a symbol of the aspiration to assert their own national identity," Berlusconi said in a statement.
"We hope that all Palestinians will peacefully commit themselves to bringing about the objective of two states, their own and Israel, living side by side in safety, freedom and social development," he said.
IRELAND: Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said it was "tragic" that Arafat did not live to see an independent Palestinian state. "We're very impressed with the Palestinian leadership over recent weeks. They have upheld the rule of law within Palestine," Ahern said.
RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin praised Yasser Arafat on Thursday as "an influential political figure on an international scale."
"It is a heavy loss for the Palestinian leadership, and all Palestinians," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.
He said that Arafat had "dedicated his life to the Palestinian people's just cause, the fight for their inalienable right to crate an independent state, which would coexist with Israel within recognized and secure borders."
Putin credited Arafat with "strengthening friendly relations between Russia and Palestine."
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II expressed condolences following the death if Arafat, who he said "had waged a struggle for decades to uphold the national interests of the Arab people of Palestine," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Russia called for the international community, Israel and the Palestinians to redouble efforts to bring peace. The Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Mideast envoy, Alexander Kalugin, as saying it was necessary to take the peace process out of the "dead end" and encourage Israel and the Palestinians "to resume a substantive dialogue."
CHINA: Chinese President Hu Jintao described Arafat as "an outstanding leader of the Palestinian cause and ... an outstanding politician."
Arafat "devoted his whole life to the just cause of resuming the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people," Hu said in a statement. "He was deeply respected and supported by the Palestinian people and enjoyed great prestige among the international community."
JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called Arafat "a pioneer who had laid out the foundation for the establishment of a Palestinian state."
"I sincerely hope the Palestinians overcome their sorrow and continue with their effort toward achieving peace and prosperity in the region," Koizumi said in a statement.
INDIA: India's President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam said Arafat was an "enduring symbol of Palestine nationhood (who) selflessly devoted his life to Palestinian people."
AUSTRALIA: History will judge Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat harshly because of his failure to embrace a proposed peace deal with Israel, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.
Speaking just hours before Arafat's death was announced, Howard said Arafat could have helped secure peace in the Middle East if he had accepted the deal during U.S. President Bill Clinton's second term in office.
"I think history will judge him very harshly for not having seized the opportunity in the year 2000 to embrace the offer that was very courageously made by the then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, which involved the Israelis agreeing to about 90 percent of what the Palestinians had wanted," Howard told Melbourne radio 3AW early Thursday.
"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."
Howard said he also found it hard to believe that Arafat could not have done more to restrain the activities of terrorist organizations.
Earlier this week, the prime minister also ruled out attending Arafat's funeral, saying an Australian government representative would go instead.
NEW ZEALAND: Foreign Minister Phil Goff said Arafat, though seen by many in the West as deeply flawed, "symbolized Palestinians' long search for statehood and independence."
"His achievement was to win acknowledgment for the existence of the Palestinian nation and to advocate for the rights of a dispossessed and disadvantaged people," Goff said in a statement.
He added that Arafat's failure was "to not make the transition from resistance leader to statesman."
Goff said that in the end Arafat lacked the authority or will to finalize a peace settlement, "a failure he shares with the Israeli government."
MALAYSIA: Malaysia described the death of Yasser Arafat as a "terrible loss" for Palestinians but urged them to unite in striving for an independent homeland to honor Arafat's lifelong crusade.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar described Arafat as "a great leader who dedicated his life to defend the rights of his fellow Palestinians."
"It is a terrible loss as he had long been a beacon of hope for Palestinians in their struggle to live with dignity," Syed Hamid told The Associated Press.
"I urge all Palestinians to honor Arafat by discarding their differences in striving for an independent homeland where their can live in peace and with dignity."
Syed Hamid said Malaysia which is chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, also hoped that the United States "would not have any more excuses" in pushing forward the peace process and ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"We must keep the peace process on track and not waste time with mere rhetoric," Syed Hamid said. "The Palestinians have suffered long enough and now is the time to ensure justice for them."
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, speaking on behalf of the OIC and NAM, said the road map for peace in the Middle East which is sponsored by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia must be implemented despite Arafat's death.
"Yasser Arafat will be forever remembered ... by people from all parts of the world for his courage and determination against all odds in championing and protecting the inalienable of the people of Palestine," Abdullah said in a statement.
Abdullah said Arafat's legacy and fighting spirit "would continue to inspire Palestinians and those who share the cause of Palestine."
INDONESIA: Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, lauded Arafat as a "hero to us all."
"He was the ultimate embodiment of decades of the just struggle of a nation for its undeniable rights to self determination," Natalegawa said. "We share in this great loss and we fervently hope that it will translate into renewed momentum for the attainment of freedom, eternal peace and prosperity for the Palestinian people in their own country."
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday lauded late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as a courageous champion of peace in the Middle East and urged his successors to carry forward that legacy.
"Mr. Arafat was a great personality, whose courage and leadership was respected worldwide for well over half a century," Karzai said in a statement.
"He dedicated his life to the Palestinian people and their cause, and strove to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East.
"While his absence will undoubtedly be felt strongly, I hope that a new generation of leaders will emerge to take forward the cause of peace and stability in the Middle East," Karzai said.
It was unclear if the Afghan leader would attend a military funeral planned in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Friday.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan said Yasser Arafat's death was a "great loss" for the Palestinian people whose grief Pakistanis shared.
"With the demise of this great leader, an era has come to an end," President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was quoted as saying in an official statement Thursday. He said Arafat's "legacy will continue to inspire future generations."
Pakistan will continue backing Palestinians in their demand for a homeland, Musharraf said.
Arafat died Thursday at age 75, after spending his final days in a coma at a French military hospital outside Paris.
There is a strong popular support for the Palestinian cause in Pakistan, a Muslim nation with no diplomatic ties with Israel.
Radical Islamic groups in the country often denounce the Jewish state for its military operations against Palestinian terrorists.
Earlier, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Arafat's death was a "great loss" for the Palestinian people.
"We share the Palestinians' sorrow and every Pakistani is grieved over Yasser Arafat's death," Ahmed told The Associated Press from Saudi Arabia, where he was on a private visit to perform Umra, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
"Yasser Arafat spent his entire life for the Palestinian cause. We pray that his mission is completed after his death," said Ahmed, who is the chief government spokesman.
EGYPT: On the sleepy streets of Cairo, in the angry camps of Lebanon and at the White House, there was a sense that however his life was judged, Yasser Arafat's death was a solemn and historic moment.
Egypt, which was to give Arafat a state funeral on Friday, Yemen and Jordan announced three days' mourning. State-run Jordan radio and television replaced regular programming with recitations of Quranic versus interrupted only by hourly news bulletins.
"We have known him as a defender of right and a struggler against occupation, and striving toward peace," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said of Arafat as he opened a session of parliament.
While Arafat claimed he was born in Jerusalem, researcher's say his birthplace was Cairo, where he went to university and where his PLO was founded.
Iran: Iran on Thursday offered rare praise for Yasser Arafat, calling him a defender of the Palestinian people, and said his efforts for Palestinian rights should be clear to all.
The comments, issued by the Iranian Cabinet, were a far cry from Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's criticism of Arafat in 1998, when he described him as "shameless" and a "traitor."
Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, denounced Arafat in 1998 for signing an accord with Israel promising to crack down on Islamic terrorists in exchange for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from part of the West Bank.
Khamenei made no comments following Arafat's death on Thursday.
Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi is scheduled to attend the funeral ceremonies for Arafat in Cairo, Egypt, according to state-run television.
ARAB LEAGUE spokesman Hossam Zaki eulogized Arafat as "an extraordinary man, the personification of the Palestinian issue." "He was a man with a cause, and he carried it in his heart everywhere," Zaki added.
AFRICA: "The African National Congress and the Palestinian Liberation Army have come a long way together. The president and Yasser Arafat were also very close and his death has touched the president personally," Presidential Spokesperson Khumalo said.
THE VATICAN: The Vatican offered its condolences Thursday on the death of Yasser Arafat, calling him a leader of "great charisma" and expressing hope that the time had come for Israel and the Palestinians to live in peace, in two independent states.
Pope John Paul II has long supported Palestinian rights to a homeland and stood by Arafat when Israel and the United States considered him a terrorist or an ineffectual or unreliable peace partner.
The Vatican "joins the grief of the Palestinian people over the death of Yasser Arafat," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
Arafat was "a leader of great charisma who loved his people and sought to guide them toward national independence," Navarro-Valls said.
"May God in his pity receive the soul of (Arafat) and concede peace to the Holy Land with two independent and sovereign states, wholly reconciled," he said.
John Paul received Arafat for the first time in 1982 amid protests from Israel and the worldwide Jewish community. Since that Vatican audience, the two men have met another 10 times.
The pope made his long-sought pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2000, just a few months before the Palestinian uprising that followed the breakdown in the Camp David peace talks.
In a stop in Bethlehem, the pope kissed a golden bowl of Palestinian soil - one of several gestures the Palestinians saw as recognition of their dreams for statehood. As Arafat looked on, the pontiff proclaimed Palestinians' "natural right to a homeland."
The Vatican maintains what it calls "relations of a special nature" with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Under John Paul, the Vatican established full diplomatic relations with Israel.