Bush, Sharon must work with Arafat for ME peace: Clinton

AFP, London
US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have no choice but to work with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to achieve peace in the Middle East, former president Bill Clinton said in an interview Monday with British daily the Guardian.

"Unless they just want to wait for him to become incapacitated or pass away, or unless they seriously believe they can find a better negotiating partner in Hamas if they destroy the PLO which I don't think they do believe, then they need to keep working to make a deal," Clinton said.

The Guardian said Clinton's remarks were all the more striking in that he held the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority leader responsible for the failure of the 2000 Camp David accords.