Posted on 06/24/2002 6:51:30 AM PDT by kattracks
Reacting to Palestinian terrorist chief Yassir Arafat's belated offer on Friday to accept the terms of the peace plan proposed in December 2000 by then-President Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that it was too late.
"I would say that if he is serious we have to see it in action, namely; put an end to the terror, put an end to incitement and arrest these terrorists," Barak told Fox News Channel's Rita Cosby late Saturday.
"That's what we would expect from him before turning to a real peace plan," the ex-Israeli leader added.
Barak, who had accepted the Clinton plan that Arafat rejected, said also that he doubted the Palestinian leader's reversal was sincere.
"I'm quite doubtful he really means it this time," he told Fox News Channel. "It looks like a smoke screen. He feels the pressure coming closer to him as a result of his terrorism, his suicide attacks and series of bombings."
The Clinton proposal would have given Arafat control over all of the Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank, as well as sovereignty over East Jerusalem, the New York Post reported Saturday, before Barak's remarks.
"I'm prepared to accept (the Clinton peace plan), absolutely," Arafat told the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz on Friday.
Barak's comments come as a blow to Clinton supporters, who continue to hold out the hope that his plan will eventually provide the framework for a long-lasting peace agreement that would win him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
A) He's lying
B) It's too late
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