UN chief says only Arafat can advance Mideast peace process

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, says Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, is the only person capable of advancing the peace process in the Middle East.

Asked in an interview with France-2 television if Arafat was considered a crucial figure in restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Annan answered, "For the moment, he's the only one."

Annan urged the international community to continue efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.

"I do not think that the two parties alone can sort out peace between themselves, so external intervention is necessary," Annan said during the interview, filmed in Oslo where he and the United Nations accepted the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.

"This intervention must come from the international community," Annan said, adding he was working closely with the European Union, the United States and Russia to try to find a means to advance the peace process.

Arafat has come under mounting pressure for failing to rein in Palestinian militants who have carried out a string of bombing and shooting attacks on Israelis.

The United States and Israel have demanded that Arafat do more to stop terrorists; he says he is already cracking down on them and that 180 suspects have been arrested.