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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rrufff who wrote (7468)	9/1/2004 9:08:21 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 32591

Updated Sep. 1, 2004 12:47 Palestinians celebrate Beersheba attacks By KHALED ABU TOAMEH While hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in major cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to celebrate the double suicide bombings in Beersheba, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat reiterated his call for sacrificing millions of martyrs to liberate Jerusalem. Women in Nablus ululated in joy as Arab satellite TV stations interrupted their normal programs to break the news of the bombings. Scores of gunmen opened fire into the air, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or God is Great. Similar expressions of joy were reported in Tulkarm and Jenin. In Gaza City, hundreds of Palestinians marched in the streets carrying pictures of slain Hamas leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi. The protesters hailed the suicide bombers as heroes and urged Hamas to launch more attacks inside Israel. Some of the demonstrators handed out sweets to the crowd as a sign of their jubilation. The attacks in Beersheba took place as Arafat was meeting with hundreds of supporters from the West Bank town of Salfit. Arafat told the crowd that the Palestinians were determined to sacrifice millions of people to liberate Jerusalem. "We will march towards Jerusalem, we will sacrifice millions of martyrs," Arafat said in his famous battle cry. "Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Palestine." PA officials said the visit was in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike. As Arafat flashed V-for-victory signs at the crowd, many chanted, "With our blood, with our soul, we will redeem Abu Amar [Arafat] and Palestine." Bilal Azril, secretary-general of Fatah in Salfit, said the rally was organized in solidarity with Arafat and the prisoners. Arafat later issued a statement condemning the twin suicide bombings in Beersheba and calling for keeping Israeli and Palestinian civilians outside the cycle of violence. "The position of the Palestinian Authority is clear," said the statement issued by Arafat's office in Ramallah. "We are against any aggression against Palestinian and Israeli civilians." The statement said such attacks harm the national interests of the Palestinians and "give Israel an excuse to pursue its aggression against our people." The statement reiterated Arafat's call for an immediate cease-fire with Israel and the implementation of all agreements signed between the two parties. PA officials in Ramallah accused Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the Beersheba attacks, of trying to torpedo Arafat's attempts to implement security reforms. Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Rouhi Fatouh called for an end to suicide bombings, saying they were extensively damaging the Palestinian cause. He accused Hamas of standing behind last week's assassination attempt on the life of Tarek Abu Rajab, the acting commander of the PA General Intelligence Force in the Gaza Strip. "It's clear that the timing of the bombings is designed to embarrass the Palestinian Authority and Arafat," said an official in Arafat's inner circle. "This is a suspicious operation that comes at a time when the PA leadership is talking about reforms and serious security measures to enforce law and order." Another official told The Jerusalem Post that he did not rule out the possibility that Hizbullah or Iran were behind the Hamas cell that carried out the bombings. He noted that the attacks came at a time when Hamas and the PA were engaged in an ongoing dialogue about the need to end the violence and establish a joint leadership that would run the affairs of the Gaza Strip after the planed Israeli pullout.