 U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has issued a statement saying he was "deeply moved" after learning of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death. He said Arafat would always be remembered for having led the Palestinians in 1988 to accept the principle of peaceful coexistence between Israel and a future Palestinian state. "By signing the Oslo accords in 1993 he took a giant step towards the realisation of this vision. It is tragic that he did not live to see it fulfilled," Annan said in a statement late Wednesday. "President Arafat was one of those few leaders who could be instantly recognized by people in any walk of life all around the world. For nearly four decades, he expressed and symbolized in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people. " Annan said that now Arafat was gone, "both Israelis and Palestinians, and the friends of both peoples throughout the world, must make even greater efforts to bring about the peaceful realization of the Palestinian right of self-determination." |