Arafat frustrated by U.S. inaction

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Tuesday voiced frustration over the U.S. for its failure to push Israel to accept the U.S. peace proposal on advancing the peace process.

Following a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Arafat put the responsibility for the protracted stalemate in peace talks on Israel's intransigence and rejection of the U.S. initiative for second-phase Israeli troop pullback in the West Bank.

He also criticized the US for not making public its initiative on a further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, in spite of the long time that has elapsed since the initiative was made.

The Palestinians have accepted the U.S. idea, which was introduced in January, calling for a further 13.1 percent Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank in exchange for further Palestinian security guarantees.

Besides the U.S. plan, Mubarak and Arafat also discussed the Egyptian-French initiative on holding an international conference to save the Mideast peace process in case the U.S. initiative fails.

The Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have been stalled since early 1997 when Israel broke ground for a new settlement in East Jerusalem.

The direct contacts that resumed last month between the two sides failed to yield a breakthrough on the Israeli troop withdrawal.