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Journalism of Courage
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left for Greece on a six-day tour of world capitals designed to drum up support for the declaration of a Palestinian state. After meeting Greek premier Costas Simitis in Athens, Arafat is to travel to Austria, France, the United States where he will meet United States President Bill Clinton on Tuesday and finally to Canada, officials said.
He will return to the Palestinian territories for the feast of Eid al-Adha before embarking on another marathon trip in early April to Russia, China and Japan and other countries in Asia as well as Africa and Latin America.The latest trip forms part of an intensive campaign that has already taken Arafat to Britain, Scandinavia, Spain and several Arab countries to try to win international support for the Palestinians’ right to declare an independent state on May 4 when the interim period of the Oslo peace accords expires. The Palestinians argue that by that date the final status of Israel and the Palestinian territories should have beensettled. But Netanyahu argues that such a declaration constitutes a unilateral act that contravenes the Oslo accords and has threatened to retaliate by annexing parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
