History will judge Arafat harshly, says Howard

5.50pm UPDATE

CANBERRA - History will judge that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat failed to secure peace in the Middle East, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said today.

The death of Arafat at a Paris hospital was announced this afternoon.

Speaking before the death was announced, Mr Howard said he believed Arafat had failed by not taking advantage of a deal with Israel four years ago.

"I think history will judge him very harshly for not having seized the opportunity in the year 2000 to embrace the offer that was very courageously made by the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, which involved the Israelis agreeing to about 90 per cent of what the Palestinians had wanted," Mr Howard told Melbourne radio 3AW.

"I think if Arafat had grabbed hold of that opportunity in the dying days of the (US) Clinton administration then the path of things in the Middle East may have been smoother."

Mr Howard said he also found it hard to believe Arafat could not have done more to restrain the activities of terrorist organisations.

Mr Howard yesterday ruled out attending Arafat's funeral, saying an Australian government representative would go instead.


- AAP, REUTERS