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Source: http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/09/02/mideast/index.html
Arafat: "The Road Map is Dead"
(CNN) - Recent Israeli military action against Palestinian militants has killed the U.S.-backed Mideast "road map" to peace, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Tuesday in an off-camera interview with CNN. Arafat said there was no prospect of Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas resuming a declared cease-fire with Israel. "The road map is dead, but only because of Israeli military aggression in recent weeks," he said. Arafat downplayed a reported split between himself and Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, saying the reports have been exaggerated by Israel in order to create problems within the Palestinian leadership. In Ramallah, a newspaper published by the PA carried a petition signed by 250 academics, politicians, and community leaders calling on Arafat and Abbas to settle their differences.