DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2001�
Arafat promises Palestinian state in 2002
Mon Dec 31 2001 13:42:21 ET
Ramallah (dpa) - A Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital will be established in the
coming year, Palestinian President Yassir Arafat promised Monday evening.
In a speech broadcast by Palestinian media to mark the 36th anniversary of the founding of
his Fatah movement, Arafat said that such a state was a ``fundamental basis for international
and regional security and stability''.
The Palestinian state, he added, should be established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip -
territory Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.
Fatah, the leading component in the Palestine Liberation Organization, is considered the
mainstream movement in the Palestinian-ruled territories. Recent reports suggest its
popularity is on the wane, while the more militant Palestinian Islamic movements, such as
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, are on the rise.
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