The Palestinian Authority declared a top U.N. envoy “persona non grata” after he criticized Yasser Arafat. “Terje Roed-Larsen’s statement is not objective. As of today he is an unwelcome person in Palestinian territories,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior adviser to the P.A. president, told Reuters on Wednesday. In an address Tuesday to the U.N. Security Council, Roed-Larsen, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, assailed Arafat for not stopping Palestinian terrorism.
Israel said ties with Turkey are strong despite diplomatic differences. Israeli Trade Minister Ehud Olmert, who was in Ankara on Wednesday, played down recent Turkish government allegations of “state terrorism” by Israel against the Palestinians. “I don’t think Prime Minister Erdogan believes Israel is a terrorist state because he knows Israel is the greatest fighter in the world against terrorism,” Olmert said of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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