Carter meets with Arafat, blames leaders for peace stall

PARIS Former President Jimmy Carter said after meeting here withPLO chief Yasser Arafat and French President Francois Mitterrand thatMiddle East leaders are to blame for allowing the peace process tostall.

He said the regional leaders "don't adequately represent theyearnings (for peace) of the people in Israel, among thePalestinians, the Syrians, the Jordanians, the Lebanese."

Although he believes that "peace is necessary in the Mideast andthat peace is inevitable in the Mideast," Carter said, the processmust be "stimulated" not just in the region but in the United Statesand in Europe.

Carter's talks with Arafat, whom he praised for doing"everything he …