Wednesday January 23, 7:43 AM

Arafat "quacks" like a terrorist : former peace partner Barak

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak furiously branded Yasser Arafat, his one-time partner in peace talks, as a terrorist, after the latest attack on the streets of Jerusalem.

"Yasser Arafat happens to behave like a terrorist, he looks like one, he walks like one, he quacks like one, so maybe he is really a terrorist," Barak told reporters after meeting with Secretary of State of Colin Powell.

"It is about time we tell the truth ... about his behavior to be able to draw some conclusions," said Barak, who also met national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

While still prime minister, Barak huddled with Arafat at the Camp David presidential retreat in an exhausting but ultimately failed two-week summit in July 2000, brokered by former president Bill Clinton.

Clinton, who by chance was in Israel while Barak visited the United States, on Tuesday snubbed Arafat, who is besieged in the West Bank town of Ramallah amid a new upsurge of Israeli-Palestinian violence

The former US leader chided Arafat, leader of the Palestinian authority, for missing a "golden opportunity" at Camp David to secure a peace agreement.

Barak's meetings Tuesday at the White House and the State Department came hours after a Palestinian gunman ran amok on the streets of west Jerusalem on Tuesday injuring 39 people.

The United States called on Arafat to immediately do more to crack down on Palestinian militant groups