‘Make Arafat’s dream a reality” - Annan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged Palestinians and Israelis to work with the international community to make Yasser Arafat’s dream of two states living in peace a reality.

At Mr Annan’s request, the General Assembly decided to accord Mr Arafat the honours of a head of state because that’s the way he was always regarded by the 191-member world body even though the Palestinians only have observer status at the UN, spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

As a result, the blue-and-white UN flag was flying at half-mast outside UN headquarters in New York today and the General Assembly scheduled a memorial tribute in the afternoon to the Palestinian leader, who died early today in Paris.

Mr Annan was scheduled to speak to the General Assembly, but was not planning to attend Mr Arafat’s funeral in Cairo because of the difficulty of making arrangements at short notice, Mr Eckhard said. He will be represented by the top UN envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen.

“Chairman Arafat really embodied the Palestinian aspiration.” Mr Annan told reporters. “He had the courage of accepting the fact that there will have to be two states and the Palestinians will live side by side with the Israelis, and he also signed the Oslo agreement.

“Now that he’s gone, I think the best legacy that his people can live by is to engage constructively and peacefully with the international community and the Israeli government and people to make that dream – a dream of two states living side by side in peace – a reality.

“And I would urge that we all get to work and really press for the achievement of that goal,” he said.

Under the 1993 Olso peace accord, secretly brokered by Norway, the Palestinians formally recognised Israel’s right to exist and Israel agreed to establish self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza, territories it had ruled since 1967.

While the agreement is in tatters, its vision endures. The UN, the US, the EU and Russia – the so-called Quartet – drafted a “road map” to Israeli-Palestinian peace that calls for a Palestinian state in 2005, but it, too, is stalled.

Asked last week whether Mr Arafat’s illness could “jump start” the road map, Mr Annan noted that the Quartet decided at a September meeting “to press on with the implementation ... particularly in the new year”

Mr Eckhard said today that with Mr Arafat’s death, the timetable might be speeded up.

Mr Annan was asked what the first step should be to resume peace efforts.

“I think what appears to be already happening is a smooth transition on the Palestinian side,” he said. “The signs are very good that they are sorting out the leadership issues and there will be a solid Palestinian leadership, one to work with.”