|
Leading
World States Condemn Israel’s War on Arafat
 |
| Isreal’s
Friday Ramallah offnesive is a declaration of war. |
PARIS,
March 29 (News Agencies) – Leading world states, including France,
Russia, China, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey, condemned Friday
Israel’s all-out war on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s
base in Ramallah where more than 20 tanks rolled into his
presidential headquarters and Israeli forces machine–gunned his
office building.
French
Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine condemned Israel's operation against
Arafat, warning that "resorting to tanks" and trying to
"asphyxiate" the Palestinian President would resolve
nothing.
"The
solution will not be found in tank strikes..." Vedrine told
Radio France Internationale, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"It
is not by asphyxiating Arafat that a solution will be found,"
Vedrine said.
He
was speaking after Israel launched a large-scale operation against
Arafat early Friday, sending 20 tanks to surround his West Bank
headquarters, with a bulldozer beginning to demolish the main wall
of his compound and Israeli forces occupying entrances and some
buildings.
Vedrine
told the radio station he "understood how Israelis felt faced
with the terrifying pressure of terrorist attacks."
However,
to try "to asphyxiate Arafat, because there is a kind of
obsession, that he is responsible for all that, I do not think that
that can lead to a solution," he said.
"The
way in which the Israeli government is reacting to this wave of
attacks can not lead to a solution. I continue to think that there
is an impasse," Vedrine said, adding that he did not believe
far-right Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would change tack.
In
an interview with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, Arafat said
Israel was attacking his headquarters with "tanks and
missiles" and that he believed Israel either wanted to take him
prisoner or see him dead.
"They
want me to become a prisoner or fugitive, or dead. But I tell them
no, (I'll be) a martyr, a martyr, a martyr," he said.
Sureyda
Mohammad Abu Harabiya, 21, was shot dead as she was driving her car
near Arafat's offices, and a Palestinian man was killed in clashes,
hospital sources said.
Another
22 other Palestinians were wounded, including civilians and members
of Arafat’s Force 17 elite bodyguard.
A
Palestinian cameraman, for the Egyptian network Nile-TV, Mostafa
Hay, was among the total, critically injured when he was hit in the
neck by Israeli sniper bullets as he was heading towards the
compound, his colleagues and hospital sources said. He later died in
hospital.
Israeli
public television reported that four Israeli soldiers were also
lightly wounded in the operation.
As
Israel announced it had mobilized 20,000 extra reservists,
Palestinian security sources said Israeli occupation troops had been
deployed throughout the West Bank city, reoccupying it for the
second time this month.
Friday's
operation was led by Israeli special forces, probably including
soldiers disguised as Arabs, and was the most direct military move
against Arafat since the beginning of the Intifada, or uprising
against Israeli occupation, 18 months ago.
Meanwhile,
Russia voiced "extreme concern" Friday at the latest
Israeli offensive and condemned Israel's policy of isolating Arafat,
warning it would further destabilize the region.
"The
developing situation in the Middle East, especially in the
Palestinian territories, is of extreme concern to us," Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told journalists.
"We
consider that the policy of isolating Arafat is not the way to find
a way out of this situation. We think that through dialogue,
including with the Palestinian leader, we should look for a
political solution to this crisis" he added.
Ivanov
said that Russia was holding "the most active discussions"
with the United States and the European Union to halt the escalating
violence, adding: "We urge restraint.”
The
foreign minister said Israel's all-out drive on Arafat's West Bank
headquarters had sparked "a crisis which threatens the
stability of the region and beyond."
His
remarks came as Israeli tanks, troops and helicopters were reported
to have seized Ramallah after clashes around Arafat's compound left
six dead and 29 wounded.
Israel's
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon launched the military clampdown after
declaring the Palestinian President leader an "enemy”.
Russia
is a co-sponsor of the stalled Middle East peace process but has
seen its influence wane in the region as the United States has taken
the upper hand.
Meanwhile,
China has called on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to
practice “utmost restraint” and has asked the international
community to take “emergency steps”.
Zhang
Qiyue, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said China
would be willing to help both sides if they return to the
negotiating table.
Turkish
State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel also expressed grave concern over
the increasing tension in the Middle East and urged both sides,
especially Ankara's regional ally Israel, to act rationally.
"We
are of course deeply hurt by what is happening in the Middle
East," Gurel told reporters here, the Anatolia news agency
reported.
"The
developments in the Middle East have gone out of control," he
added.
The
Turkish minister said Israel needs to act rationally.
"Israel
must review many of the concepts and views it holds to be able to
act in a rational, forward-looking and constructive manner,"
Gurel said, without elaborating.
Predominantly
Muslim but strictly secular Turkey is a close ally of Israel since
the two sides signed a military cooperation deal in 1996.
Despite
close ties with Palestine as well, Ankara, has grown increasingly
critical of Sharon's hard-line policies against the Palestinians.
In
Bern, Switzerland called on Israel not to target Yasser Arafat.
"Yasser
Arafat is our legitimate interlocutor because he has been
democratically elected. Nothing must be done to harm him," AFP
quoted foreign ministry spokeswoman Muriel Berset-Kohen as saying.
Switzerland
also called on Israel to withdraw its forces "immediately from
Ramallah", Arafat's West Bank base, Kohen added.
And
in Stockholm, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said Friday
Israel's assault on the West Bank headquarters of Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat was "unacceptable" and urged the
Israeli leadership to exercise restraint.
"Any
attempt to crush the Palestinian leadership is unacceptable to the
international community and will only lead to greater losses and
insecurity for Israel," Lindh said in a statement.
"Israel's
government must exercise maximum restraint and act in such a way so
that the Palestinian forces who want to live in peace with Israel
are not further marginalized," she said.
Lindh
said she was "horrified" to hear Sharon refer to Arafat as
his "enemy" at a news conference after an all-night
cabinet meeting.
|
