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

To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (15297)	5/2/2002 10:55:59 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27758

len. Maybe " arafat the stupid " go bye bye. " Ten radical groups in Syria, including the Islamic militant group Hamas, condemned Arafat for making what it called "an outrageous concession" that allowed six Palestinians wanted by Israel to be transferred to a Jericho prison under the supervision of the United States and Britain." Arabs Say Arafat's Release Not Enough; Some Question Price of Deal By Salah Nasrawi Associated Press Writer Published: May 2, 2002 CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Arabs welcomed the lifting of the Israeli siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters but called Thursday for full Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories and an end to the standoff at the Church of the Nativity. Ten radical groups in Syria, including the Islamic militant group Hamas, condemned Arafat for making what it called "an outrageous concession" that allowed six Palestinians wanted by Israel to be transferred to a Jericho prison under the supervision of the United States and Britain. And Palestinian refugees in Baqaa camp outside the Jordanian capital of Amman saw the deal as the product of U.S. pressure. "The six who were handed over are strugglers not criminals, but this is America's will. What can we do?" said Awni Shatarat, 42, a merchant in the camp. Another camp resident, Mohammad Adeeb, 44, said: "Ending the siege is an American-brokered bargain." In Cairo, Arab League spokesman Hisham Youssef told The Associated Press there should be guarantees that Israel would not reoccupy Palestinian cities. "This is not sufficient. Israel should comply with all Security Council resolutions and withdraw fully from the Palestinian territories," Youssef said. He said Israel should also immediately lift its siege on Bethlehem's Church of Nativity. Israeli forces have surrounded the church since April 2, when more than 200 Palestinians, including gunmen, took refuge inside as Israeli troops invaded. A fire broke out at the church compound early Thursday, damaging dormitory rooms but not the basilica itself. The fire was about 50 feet from the 4th-century basilica built over what tradition holds was Jesus' birthplace. In a show of anger at the fire, Arafat told reporters at his Ramallah compound that what was happening at the church was more important than his situation. In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters that lifting the siege on Arafat "corrects a mistake and crime that Israel has committed, and is still committing." "This step is a very important and a good start and we hope what follows is an Israeli commitment to basic principles and agreed upon rules," said Maher, who earlier in the day met with the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt. Other reaction is Egypt was less positive. An organizer of a pro-Palestinian protest scheduled for Friday in the northern city of Alexandria on Thursday called for "struggle until liberation, liberation of the land and not of Arafat." Ali Abdel Fatah, a leader of Egypt's Popular Committee for the Support of the Palestinian People and the banned fundamentalist group the Muslim Brotherhood, said that Friday's slogan would be: "Hamas is the gun and all of us are the bullets," a reference to the Palestinian militant group that has launched suicide bombers at Israeli shopping centers and checkpoints. During its West Bank offensive, Israel targeted leaders of the Hamas military wing, as well as members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement. Saeed Kamal, deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, said Arafat's release was nonetheless significant. "The official and popular Arab demand has always been to free president Arafat in order to let him carry out his national and international responsibilities toward his people, the whole world and the Security Council resolutions," Kamal said. He urged Palestinian factions to "rally behind the Palestinian leadership and to be constructive and positive." The reaction of Palestinians once the initial euphoria is over will be key. In Damascus, radical Palestinian factions already were denouncing Arafat's Palestinian Authority's decision to transfer six Palestinians wanted by Israel to a Jericho prison under the supervision of the United States and Britain. That transfer opened the way to the end of the siege on Arafat, whose movement had been restricted by Israel since Dec. 3. The six sent to prison included four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - one of the groups based in Syria - accused of killing Israel's tourism minister last October. The Front says the minister was killed in reprisal for Israel's killing of its leader. The new leader of the faction was also among the six, along with a Palestine Liberation Organization official accused by Israel of masterminding the attempted smuggling of weapons to the Palestinians. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the other nine factions in Syria said in a statement Wednesday that sending the six to prison was "an outrageous concession that would whet the appetite of both the Israelis and the Americans to demand more Palestinian concessions." The statement vowed to "resist occupation with all available means." It did not specifically mention suicide bombings. Lebanon's Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp was enveloped in sadness and anxiety over the transfer of the six Palestinian prisoners. Abu Ali Hassan, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine official in the camp, said the prisoners deal was a "betrayal of every person who stood steadfast or was martyred in Palestine." He said his faction would retaliate. Syrian commentator Emad Sheibi blasted the deal as a "humiliating surrender." Massouma al-Mubarak, a University of Kuwait political scientist, feared Arafat's authority would be undermined by the price he had paid for freedom. She said Israel may have succeeded in pitting Palestinian against Palestinian. ap.tbo.com