MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Statement by the British Government on the death of Y. Arafat.

The Foreign Secretary has issued the following statement:

'I want to express my deep sympathy and condolences to the Palestinian people on the death of Yasser Arafat.

'President Arafat played such a dominant role on behalf of the Palestinians over so many decades that it is hard to imagine the Middle East without him.

'As the leader of his people, he created an international awareness of, and concern about, the plight of the Palestinian people. He displayed unquestionable devotion to his work.

'President Arafat led the Palestinian national movement through the 1980s and 1990s to an acceptance of Israel, a two state solution, and negotiation as the means to achieve that goal.

He died knowing that the international community had committed itself to a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure state of Israel. As the Prime Minister has made clear, the United Kingdom will continue to do all it can to strive for that outcome.' (FCO)