Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has again called for the immediate publication of an international "road map" due to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Mr Arafat told the daily Spanish newspaper
ABC
newspaper "it is indispensable to publish and immediately put into practice the road map," particularly since a Palestinian cabinet had now been set up.
"First it was put off until after the elections in Palestine, which could not be held because of the occupation of our land, then it was delayed until after the Israeli elections, and then it was put aside until after an Israeli government had been set up," he said.
The Spanish interview was published two days after a Palestinian cabinet was set up under reformist politician Mr Mahmud Abbas, a move seen by the United States and Israel as sidelining Arafat, who is blamed for corruption and anti-Israeli violence.
The "road map" due to lead to the creation of a Palestinianstate in 2005, has been drawn up by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia, but promises to publish it have been repeatedly pushed back by Washington.
In the interview, Mr Arafat also repeated his "categoriccondemnation" of a suicide attack which killed one Israeli and the assailant in a town north of Tel Aviv on Thursday.
AFP