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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (3516)	3/31/2002 7:37:17 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

Arafat Says World Should Protect Palestinians " Arafat has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings by militants against Israeli civilians in an 18-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation. Israel and the United States have said Arafat has not done enough to prevent the attacks. Arafat said the way out of the current bloody crisis was "the accurate and honest implementation of what has been agreed upon two days ago in the U.N. Security Council and also the implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell documents." Sun Mar 31,11:14 AM ET RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat , in buoyant mood despite the Israeli tanks ringing his compound, said Sunday he had told the United States that Palestinians needed international protection. Israel has in the past rejected the idea of international peacekeepers or monitors, saying they would not be able to stop Palestinian attacks on its civilians. "I told (Secretary of State) Colin Powell that we need the immediate dispatch of international forces to end this military escalation against our people, against our cities and refugee camps," Arafat told reporters at his shattered headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Arafat spoke to Powell by telephone Saturday. The State Department confirmed the call, but did not disclose its content. Asked about Israel's assurances that it had no intention of harming him, the 72-year-old former guerrilla chief said: "Do you think the missiles will differentiate between me and any of my brothers here with me? This is a big Israeli lie. "What I am facing is not important. More important is what my people are going through day and night. Yesterday they (the Israelis) assassinated nine people. The tanks are surrounding the hospitals and blocking access to the wounded," he declared. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Arafat an "enemy" Friday and sent tanks to his compound in response to a suicide bombing that killed 22 Israelis Wednesday. Arafat has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings by militants against Israeli civilians in an 18-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation. Israel and the United States have said Arafat has not done enough to prevent the attacks. Arafat said the way out of the current bloody crisis was "the accurate and honest implementation of what has been agreed upon two days ago in the U.N. Security Council and also the implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell documents." Saturday the Security Council adopted a U.S.-backed resolution urging Israel to leave Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, as well as asking both sides for a "meaningful cease-fire." CIA Director George Tenet has proposed ways to achieve a truce and an international commission led by U.S. former senator George Mitchell has produced a truce-to-talks plan that demands a freeze on Jewish settlement activity in occupied territory. PEACE OF THE BRAVE Arafat said he remained committed to peace agreements he has signed with Israel since the 1993 Oslo interim accords. "Do not forget that I signed the peace of the brave with my late partner (Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak) Rabin who was killed by these fanatic groups which now rule Israel. Despite that I remained committed by the peace of the brave," he said. Arafat, who shared a Nobel peace prize with Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, noted that Arab leaders meeting in Beirut last week had adopted a Saudi plan for peace and full ties with Israel if it quit all Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and accepted a Palestinian state. "The Israeli response came in the shape of military escalation, siege and starvation and crimes against children, women and men, against hospitals, schools, holy Muslim and Christian sites," Arafat said. The Palestinian leader has said repeatedly in the last few days he would rather "die a martyr" than surrender to Israel. One of his media aides said Arafat was in good health and encouraging those around him. "He is personally checking the rooms in his three-story building. He does not sleep much but he recites the Koran and he is in permanent contact with officials in all Palestinian cities," the aide told Reuters by telephone. "There is electricity and there is water and food. We are all fine. Arafat's bodyguards are around him, willing to die and not to expose him to any harm," he said. "Today was the most difficult day...there was a violent gunbattle for an hour. We had two wounded and we were able to evacuate them," the aide added. story.news.yahoo.com