Arafat: Palestinian state to be declared this year

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat stated yesterday that issue of the Palestinian state has been already determined and that it will be announced during the current year.

Arafat's statements came to answer a comment made by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien to the media following his meeting with Arafat in Gaza.

Chretien said his country supports establishing a Palestinian state, and the only way to take such steps is a peace agreement.

Meanwhile, El-Taiyeb Abd El-Rehim, secretary general of the Palestinian National Authority, warned that the situation in the West Bank area will become similar to that in Lebanon if the Israeli Army's troops do not withdraw from it and the peace process fails.