The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has warned of a violent uprising in the future if there is no progress on troop withdrawals from the West Bank.

He was responding to the latest Israeli failure to make a binding decision on the transfer of land to the Palestinians.

Arafat: warns of new intifadha.

Mr Arafat is frustrated at what he sees as Israel's unwillingness to meet its commitments to peace deals. He said the Palestinian people were ready to sacrifice blood for Palestine.

At a rally in the Gaza Strip he asked people to remember the seven-year uprising from 1987-93 against Israeli rule, known as the intifada.

"We are the people of martyrs ... I am saying to the near and the far we are ready," he said.

BBC Middle East correspondent Lyse Doucet said: "Mr Arafat has used harsh language in previous crises with Israel but this speech is his strongest in some time ... Mr Arafat's supporters will see it as a sign that his patience has virtually run out."

Peace talks

Netanyahu: "hard" to give away land

Both Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to visit Washington this week in an attempt to revive the Middle East peace process. They will meet President Clinton on separate days.

But Mr Netanyahu has said that he will not fix any percentages regarding Israel's next troop redeployment before the meeting with President Clinton.

"I prefer to explain privately to President Clinton our limitations and our flexibility within the existing limitations, and to try together with him to advance the process in the best possible way,

"It's very hard for me to give away even one crumb of the land of Israel. It's land that speaks to me. It's not a foreign land ..it's our land, its the land of our forefathers," he said.

American officials are also frustrated with Israel's perceived procrastination. Speaking on American television the United States National Security Adviser, Samuel Berger, said there was a sense of urgency about the Middle East peace process in Washington. He said the time had come for tough decisions.

But the Israelis accuse the Palestinians of failing to fulfil their obligations. Lyse Doucet said: "They are certain to point to Mr Arafat's speech as further proof of his lack of commitment to peace making."
 

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