TEHRAN Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Friday said the ball was in Israel's court to achieve a breakthrough before a September 13 deadline for a comprehensive peace agreement, AFP reported from Tokyo.
The fate of Bait-ul-Moqaddas remained the biggest stumbling block to achieving agreement by the date, on which the Palestinians have said they may unilaterally declare an independent state, Arafat told reporters in Tokyo.
At last month's failed Camp David peace summit in the United States, "the most serious point was Bait-ul-Moqaddas... which was our capital since many many years ago," the Palestinian leader said after talks with Japanese leaders.
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak was holding up peace by dragging its feet in implementing past accords, Arafat said at Tokyo's Haneda airport before leaving for Bangladesh.
"None of these agreements had been fulfilled and implemented accurately and honestly from this government led by Mr. Barak," he said.