Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of choosing the "path of conflict," which he warned would achieve nothing.
"At the moment, the Palestinian Authority and Arafat have chosen the path of conflict in an attempt to make us fold and to get us to surrender our vital interests through force," Barak said in comments broadcast on public radio.
"With violence they will not gain a thing. We will know how to operate and stand united against violence to win," he added.
Barak made the comments as he was preparing Tuesday for a second round of talks with hardline right-wing leader Ariel Sharon in an attempt to cobble together an emergency government following almost four weeks of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The premier on Sunday declared an indefinite "time out" from the seven-year peace process, citing the violence which has left more than 130 people dead and close on 4,000 injured, the vast majority of them Palestinians.
The unrest was triggered by a controversial visit by Sharon on September 28 to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, a site revered by both Jews and Muslims.
Arafat has responded to the "time out" by telling Barak he can "go to hell" and that the Intifada, or uprising against Israel, will continue – JERUSALEM (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
