Arafat missed chance for peace, says Clinton

FORMER US President Bill Clinton offered condolences to Palestinians after the death of Yasser Arafat but said their leader had missed the opportunity to create lasting Middle East peace in 2000.

Mr Clinton, who helped broker a Middle East peace plan with Mr Arafat and Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin in 1993, will not attend his memorial service or his funeral.

Mr Clinton, Mr Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Mr Rabin made history on September 13, 1993, when the three men shook hands on the White House lawn and signed interim peace accords that led to seven years of negotiation and relative peace.