Cheney: Arafat not putting 100 percent effort toward peace

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney is criticizing Yasser Arafat for apparently turning to Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist group for support and is pressing the Palestinian leader to "make a 100 percent" effort against terrorism.

Hours after a bomb carried by a Palestinian woman exploded in downtown Jerusalem -- killing the woman and an 81-year-old Israeli man and injuring dozens of other people -- Cheney suggested that Arafat has failed to take the steps to halt recent escalating violence.

He suggested that Anthony Zinni, the special U.S. envoy to the Middle East, would not return to the region until Arafat does more.

"But as long as we see this inability, if you will, whether it's deliberate or whether it's through lack of authority, to control the suicide bombers and to end terrorism attacks, it's very hard to see how we move forward on the peace process," the vice president said on "Fox News Sunday."

He called on Arafat to "make a 100 percent good-faith effort to put an end to terrorism."

Cheney repeated White House assertions that Arafat knew about a recent shipment of weapons from Iran that was intercepted by Israeli commandoes.

On Friday, President Bush accused the Palestinian leader of "enhancing terror" and pressed him to accept responsibility for the arms-smuggling operation.

Arafat has denied any role, but Cheney, on ABC's "This Week," said flatly, "We don't believe him."

"The really disturbing part of this, of course, is that there are a lot of places he could go in the Arab world if he were looking for support and sustenance or for help in moving the peace process forward," Cheney told Fox.

"Clearly, he hasn't done that. What he's done is gone to a terrorist organization, Hezbollah, and a state that supports and promotes terrorism, that's dedicated to ending the peace process, Iran, and done business with them."

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the arms shipment "clearly pointed out that Arafat is not living up to his agreements" to promote peace.