Clinton says Oslo event will be moment to emphasize peace

President Bill Clinton invoked the memory of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to promote peace in the Middle East.

Clinton on Thursday described Rabin, who was killed four years ago by an Israeli assassin in Tel Aviv at the end of a peace rally, as "a courageous soldier in the battle of peace" who is a reminder of the movement toward conciliation.

"Twelve days from now, world leaders will gather in Oslo to honor Yitzhak Rabin," Clinton said in a statement released by the white house.

"I will attend on behalf of the American people," he said.

"It was in Oslo, six years ago, that Israelis and Palestinians made the crucial decision to try to work together to achieve peace," Clinton recalled.

"Now, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and I will come together in Oslo to build on that legacy and move closer to Rabin's goal: a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinian people," he said.

"But as we look back in sorrow to mourn the passing of a great man, we must do everything in our power on behalf of the cause to which he gave his life," Clinton concluded.