U.S. Says It Still Cannot Work With Arafat

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (AFP) - The United States said Wednesday it still cannot work with Yasser Arafat to bring peace to the Middle East, even though the veteran Palestinian leader admitted that he has made mistakes.
"Our view is that Chairman Arafat has demonstrated by a record of broken promises that, you know, we can't work with him," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. "He's not a useful partner for us."
Arafat said in a speech that "unacceptable mistakes" have been made by his government, adding that he himself had also been guilty of errors. He pledged to restore order and security in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Ereli noted that Washington wants Arafat to transfer security responsibilities to his prime minister, Abu Alaa.
"A key critical element for progress to be made is for authority over the security forces to be put effectively in the hands of the prime minister and for real consolidation to take place and for real action against terrorists to take place," he said.
"That's what, at a minimum and immediately, what we think progress would entail," Ereli added.
However, Ereli said, "the Palestinian Authority, under the prime ministership of Abu Alaa, is working to follow through on practical steps" to improve the situation in the region.
Ereli also called on Palestinians to accept Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza.
"We continue to work with Abu Alaa, to work with the Palestinians on ways to take advantage of the opportunity that we think the government of Prime Minister Sharon presents with the withdrawal plan," he said.