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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (10533)11/15/2001 1:34:21 AM
From: Nadine Carroll  Respond to of 27666
 
Well, so much for that show of effort. From the Jerusalem Post:

Arafat orders Islamic Jihad leader freed after Jenin riots
By Lamia Lahoud, Arieh O'Sullivan, and Herb Keinon

JERUSALEM (November 15) - Senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Mahmoud Tawalbi was arrested yesterday by Palestinian police, then ordered released by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat after riots broke out in Jenin.

A senior PA source said the arrest had not been cleared with Arafat.

PA security agents, whom the source said were operating under West Bank Preventive Security Service chief Jibril Rajoub's orders, arrested Tawalbi, known as "Nursi," who tops Israel's most wanted list.

About 3,000 Palestinians protesting the arrest then surrounded the governor's headquarters, where the Preventive Security Service has its offices. Gunmen fired rifles and threw grenades at the compound and burned cars in the city. Some protesters even threatened to blow up the compound should the PA refuse to release Tawalbi.

Islamic Jihad leaders said Palestinian policemen plucked Tawalbi, 23, off a Jenin street and, following the protests, whisked him to a prison in Nablus.

However, Arafat ordered him released following the violent confrontations between hundreds of Palestinians and Palestinian policemen. The source said the riots were organized by Islamic Jihad and sponsored by "the intifada leadership."

Two Palestinians, including a member of the security forces, were wounded, witnesses said. Senior PA security officials negotiated with the gunmen to try to disperse the crowd.

"We are discussing a formula to calm the situation," a senior security official told Reuters. He said Tawalbi would not be released.

"The PA has the right to arrest lawbreakers and won't give in," he said.

Israel had asked the PA to arrest Tawalbi, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp, in an attempt to prevent terrorist attacks being planned by him, Israeli security sources had said.

Tawalbi was behind the July 16 bombing near the Binyamina train station in which two people were killed and eight wounded. He was also behind an attempted bombing in Haifa on July 22, foiled when security forces managed to arrest his brother, Murad, who was supposed to have committed suicide.

Tawalbi was also behind the August 2 car bombing in Beit She'an. No one was hurt in that attack.

Israeli security officials said Tawalbi was one of the main forces in the Islamic Jihad behind attacks in Samaria.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman Ra'anan Gissin reacted to the reports of the arrest, and the anger it triggered in Jenin, by saying that the government will wait to see if this time he remains behind bars.

"They have arrested him several times and then let him go through a revolving door," Gissin said. "This time we will wait and see whether this is just a cosmetic measure taken to please the US, or whether it is the real thing."

Gissin said that the IDF has been unable to withdraw from areas around Jenin because the city is controlled by Islamic Jihad groups that continue to produce one suicide bomber after the next.

He said that if this time the PA is serious about the arrest, and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat continues to arrest terrorists, "we will act accordingly" and withdraw from the city.

The IDF moved into areas around six major Palestinian cities following the assassination of tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi last month, and has since withdrawn from all of them except for Tulkarm and Jenin.

Several days ago, Arafat ordered the arrest of 28 Palestinians connected with a group of terrorists who continue to fire mortars at settlements in the Gaza Strip.

The PA source said the arrest was a sign that Arafat is beginning to take action against terrorists, as demanded by the US and the UN Security Council. Arafat would not face opposition from the majority of the population for taking such measures, as long as he can show hope for a some political progress, the source said.

"The majority of the people is fed up and is asking us to end this crazy situation," he added.



To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (10533)11/15/2001 10:56:41 AM
From: Machaon  Respond to of 27666
 
<< To think that Powell wants to drop the week's quiet demand because a seven day cease fire is too much to ask of Arafat. A week! >>

I agree with you, and am also amazed. What kind of a durable peace treaty does Powell envision, if he doesn't even think that the Palestinians will stop their terror attacks against Israel for one week? The Palestinians have not kept their word on any prior treaty.

<< Arafat started this idiotic intifada because if he hadn't, the Palestinian guns would have turned on him. >>

I really feel that the Palestinian people are, themselves, being held hostage to the terrorist groups. All the Palestinians would have to do is to adopt the mandate of: "Let's live in peace", and there would be enough land and prosperity for everyone.

Just as with bin laden's Al Qaeda's group of demented, criminal butchers, the Palestinian terrorist groups are only interested in acting out their racist and religious hatreds.

These terrorist groups are out of control, and the ONLY solution is their destruction.



To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (10533)11/15/2001 10:12:23 PM
From: lorne  Respond to of 27666
 
Hi Nadine....You said..." IMO nobody with a brain still thinks that Arafat is either capable or willing to put down terrorists.".....

I agree with all that you say about Arafat and I would add that he started out as a terrorist, still thinks like a terrorist and as you have said has very little power over the Palestinians. I just think that the things that are occurring now may well be the last and final chance for Arafat. How long has Arafat been at this thing anyhow.?

Lorne