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Rice Reiterates President's Call for New Palestinian Leadership

Condoleezza Rice (State Department) - In an interview with foreign journalists on Thursday, U.S. National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice said: I do not understand the continuing interest [of the French government] in Arafat in this regard. The fact is that the Palestinian people need leadership that is committed to fighting terrorism. That has never been Arafat. The Palestinian people need leadership that will focus on their needs and on trying to get to a Palestinian state that is peaceful and prosperous, rather than someone who simply stokes their grievances. That has never been Arafat. We believe that the future is with the new Palestinian leadership, and that that's where the focus and concentration needs to be. That's been the American position since the President's June 24th speech almost a year ago. But we will see whether or not the world can now mobilize to help the new Palestinian leadership to do what it needs to do. The one message that should go out to Mr. Arafat is that he should not stand in the way of the fulfillment of a Palestinian state for his people.
2003-06-02 00:00:00
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