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Israel Launches "Information Campaign" Aimed To Discredit PA
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Will there be a sequel for this scenario? |
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, Jan 5 (News Agencies) - Israel tried Saturday to score maximum political points over the Palestinian Authority after intercepting a ship in the Red Sea loaded with 50 tonnes of arms, although parts of the operation remain murky.
Israeli officials have accused Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority of having chartered the ship to obtain weaponry from Iran for a military escalation.
However, both the Palestinian Authority and Iran denied any link with the ship or its cargo.
Israel has given maximum publicity to the affair, which coincided with the U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni's new tour of the region aimed at reaching an effective ceasefire.
To achieve maximum impact, the seizure of the vessel "Karine A" was kept secret until the Israeli chief of staff himself, Shaoul Mofaz, made the announcement during a press conference on Friday.
Diplomats, military attaches and the international media were invited to view the ship's cargo on Saturday evening at the Israeli port of Eilat, although the display was later postponed to Sunday.
The foreign ministry has received instructions to launch an international "information campaign" aimed at discrediting the Palestinian Authority and Iran, a ministry source said.
To that end, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is next week due to call on the international community to classify Iran as a country that supports terrorism.
Israeli Defense Minister Benyamin Ben Eliezer accused Tehran of "wanting to destabilize the region," given that the seized weaponry "came mainly from Iran."
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi countered that "the Zionist circles are trying to destroy the image of the intifada (Palestinian uprising) with their unfounded claims."
Israel's government secretary Gideon Saar accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to build up its arsenal substantially with a view to escalating the intifada against Israeli occupation that broke out in September 2000.
Meanwhile, government secretary Gideon Saar told Israeli public radio that Israel is planning to stick to its refusal to allow Arafat to travel to the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Sunday to take part in the Orthodox Christian celebration of Christmas.
"As the prime minister (Ariel Sharon) has made clear, Yasser Arafat will not be allowed to leave Ramallah so long as he fails to arrest the killers of Rehavam Zeevi," Saar said Saturday.
"This decision is unchanged and our security forces have received orders to effect it," the official said when asked about the chances of the Palestinian leader being allowed to take part in the Orthodox services in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ.
Arafat was already stopped by the Jewish state from attending Christmas midnight mass in Bethlehem on December 24, an event which he had attended every year since 1995.
Russia has pressed Israel to allow the Palestinian leader to go to Bethlehem for the Orthodox Christmas.
Meanwhile, Zinni said Saturday he was "encouraged" by his talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.
The retired Marine Corps general also confirmed that a three-way security meeting between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and U.S. intelligence service CIA would be held on Sunday. Zinni himself will chair the meeting.
"I am hopeful and encouraged, and think it's going to take cooperation from both sides and deep commitment to get the meaningful ceasefire we need to get this (peace) process on track," he said after a meeting in the West Bank town of Jericho with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.
Zinni, who earlier also met with Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qorei in Abu Dis, likewise on the West Bank, did not elaborate on the grounds for his optimism.
Security issues are the priority, he stressed.
"I am going to start with the trilateral and security issues and that is the beginning point, and will get to those (political) issues when the time is right," Zinni told reporters.
Erakat, meanwhile, accused Israel's government of trying "to escape the obligation of
implementing the Mitchell plan", referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's insistence on complete calm in the occupied territories which has put him at odds with his foreign minister, Shimon Peres.
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