Svoboda urges Palestinians to "clamp down" on terrorism

Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, on a tour of the Middle East, has met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. On Saturday the Foreign Minister accompanied Mr Arafat to view the leader's former headquarters in Ramallah, destroyed by Israeli forces. During their meeting Mr Svoboda said the Czech Republic recognised the Palestinians' right to a sovereign state. However, he stressed the need for the Palestinian leadership to clamp down on terrorist groups. For his part Mr Arafat urged the Czech Republic - a future EU member - to take advantage of good relations with Israel to encourage the state to honour its requirements in the proposed peace plan. Mr Arafat contended these were not being met at the current time. Finally, Mr Arafat was not the only Palestinian leader the Czech Foreign Minister met with on Saturday: Mr Svoboda also had the chance to talk with Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath, as well as Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.