PARIS, March 3: Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat was accused of genocide Monday in a lawsuit presented in Paris by families of Jewish victims of recent violence in the Middle East, all French but resident in Israel.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said Arafat does not have the status of foreign head of state which would grant him immunity under French law.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat lashed out at the lawsuit, saying it was a politically-motivated bid to smear the Palestinian leader’s image as “a man of peace”.

“This is a political act which has no basis in fact. This is part of a campaign which aims to give Arafat and the Palestinian people a bad image in the world,” Erakat said. “Everybody knows Arafat is a man of peace.”—AFP