WASHINGTON, July 1: A prominent US Republican senator has expressed disagreement with US President George W. Bush’s approach to the Middle East conflict, arguing that the US push for the removal of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was misguided.

“The issue should be not Yasser Arafat,” Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said Sunday on CNN’s “Late Edition” program.

“Whether you think he’s a terrorist or not, that’s rhetorical sword play,” said Hagel. “He is part of this process. The process should be the issue.” In a major address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last Monday, Bush called for Palestinians to get rid of their leaders.

But Hagel argued that by making Arafat an issue, the Bush administration risked “radicalizing the process” and isolating Israel and the United States in the region.

“You don’t stop terrorism by passing a Senate resolution or a congressional resolution against Iran or Syria,” Hagel argued.

“You stop it by using all the forces and the integration of the people and the allies that we need to focus on, bringing about some kind of a settlement and a process. That’s what was missing in the president’s speech.”—AFP