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US denies Arafat snub
13/11/2004 09:28 - (SA)
Washington - United States Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday rejected suggestions that the United States had snubbed Yasser Arafat by not sending its top diplomat to the Palestinian leader's funeral.
The United States sent an assistant secretary of state, William Burns, to the funeral ceremony in Cairo on Friday.
While several European states sent their foreign ministers, Burns is not even Powell's immediate deputy, but the secretary of state said in an interview with Al Arabiya television: "I think we were properly represented."
Powell added: "It wasn't at a very low level. It was Assistant Secretary of State Bill Burns, who is the assistant secretary for that part of the world, and he is well known to all the parties.
"We also put out a strong statement from the president of the United States, I put out a statement, and I have been in touch with the Palestinian leadership over the last several days."
Powell said he hoped to meet Palestinian leaders very soon.
Unlike previous US leaders, President George W Bush never received Arafat at the White House and the US administration froze contacts with him from early 2002 accusing Arafat of not doing enough to stop militant attacks on Israel.
- AFP
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