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Arafat will continue to lead the palestinians for as long as he's physically able - he wants to be the first leader of an independent palestinian nation.
The statement from Bush won't help - it just means that any internal opposion to Arafat (towards a more concilliatry position) will be branded a 'lackey' of USA and an enemy of Palestine.
Arafat have just called for election in january 2003 (the first since 1995) - and there is no real opposion to him, other than from the extremists in Hamas and similar organisations. Whether the elections can be held (under islaeli occupation) will remain to be seen.
The best thing that can happen now is for Arafat to die of natural causes - then his successor might be able to get a fresh start on reviving the peace-process.
For a change won't come from Israel - the continued suicide-bombings have all but destroyed the israeli peace-movement. When your country is at 'war', it is hard to critisize it's leadership.
Perhaps a complete separation of the two sides - exemplified by the wall that is being constructed between Israel and the West-bank is the only hope of the future - sad as it seems.
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Life is a laugh <img border=\"0\" alt=\"[biglaugh]\" title=\"\" src=\"graemlins/biglaugh.gif\" /> - and DEATH is the final joke <img border=\"0\" alt=\"[hehe]\" title=\"\" src=\"graemlins/hehe.gif\" />
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