POWELL TIRED; FRENCH TREACHEROUS

Powell: World Getting Tired of Waiting for Arafat to Cede Power
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the international community [Ed. except the French, see below] is growing weary of waiting for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to hand over control of security forces to an empowered prime minister. He suggested this could mean reduced outside aid for the Palestinians. "There is a weariness in the international community to continue providing the kind of assistance the Palestinian people so desperately need unless we see some sort of political reform and determination on the part of the Palestinian Authority to improve itself," he said. The U.S. has been the largest single aid provider to the Palestinians through UNRWA, despite its ceasing political contact with Arafat in 2002 because of his failure to curb terrorism. President Bush told the UN General Assembly Tuesday that world leaders should withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian leader who fails his people and betrays their cause. (VOA News)

French FM Says Arafat Cannot be Left Out of Peace Talks
French foreign minister Michel Barnier said on Thursday that no progress could be made in the Middle East peace process by marginalizing or not negotiating with Arafat. "I believe that nothing can be done without Arafat," Barnier said. (AP/Khaleej Times-Dubai)

IRONICALLY, THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE HAVE LESS FAITH IN ARAFAT THAN THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT:

Arafat Losing Popularity (Maariv International)
According to a Palestinian public opinion poll by the Development Studies Program at Birzeit University, if presidential elections were held tomorrow Arafat would get only 46% of the vote. This shows a major drop in his popularity, since until now all polls have given him comfortable two-thirds majorities. Former Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti, currently a prisoner in Israel, registered 11%. Fatah remains the most popular party with 34%, followed by Hamas with 32% of the vote.