Europe, UN and Russia oppose US over Arafat

United Nations, European and Russian leaders split sharply with the United States yesterday over the future of Yasser Arafat, insisting that the Palestinian leader legitimately heads his people's statehood movement.

During two hours of talks, the leaders said they also told Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, that headway must be made not just in curbing violence but in settling the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Mr Powell; the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan; the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, and the European Union diplomat Javier Solana agreed that ways must be found to get more help to the Palestinians. The four expressed their "increasing concern about the mounting humanitarian crisis in Palestinian areas". They agreed on the need for measures to support Palestinian efforts at political and economic reform, and urged Israel to relax its curbs on Palestinian travel and withdraw its forces from Palestinian-held areas as security improves.

But even on the aid issue, there was discord. President George Bush, in demanding the ousting of Mr Arafat, has accused the Palestinian Authority of corruption, and US aid is distributed in such a way to circumvent that body.

European governments and other donors submit some of their assistance to the Palestinian leadership. Mr Solana, angry over allegations that money is skimmed off, told a joint news conference that no international aid programme functions more effectively.