Liberal Democrats pay tribute to Yasser Arafat
November 11, 2004 12:00 PM
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died today in the early hours of the morning in a French hospital. Arafat, 75, had been in a coma since 3 November and on Tuesday suffered a brain haemorrhage. The Palestinian leader's body will be flown from France to Cairo this afternoon for a funeral on Friday before being returned to his Ramallah headquarters on the West Bank for burial on the same day. The Foreign Secretary will be attending on behalf of the Government, as will Shadow Foreign Minister Michael Moore for the Liberal Democrats.
Charles Kennedy, Leader of the Liberal Democrats said "Yasser Arafat's passing is a critical moment in world politics generally and the politics of the Middle East in particular. Whatever one's views over his past terrorist activities he will be remembered as the individual who helped steer the Palestinians closer to a sustained and recognized homeland than might have seemed imaginable. It was tragic that he chose not to go the extra mile when so much was on offer to him - with all the resultant chaos and carnage that has ensued. It is obviously vital that the Palestinian authorities establish a new leadership, one which may offer - in conjunction with the re-elected US Presidency - fresh, constructive hope for revisiting and restarting the Middle East Road Map. This will require a genuine recommitment from the government of Israel as well."
Sir Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary said "For the last two years both Israel and the US have refused to deal with Arafat. To a large extent he has suffered political impotence, and that has inevitably had consequences for the extent to which the Palestinian cause has been seen to be of importance."
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