European Peace Activists Sit-In With Arafat In His Office
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES, Ramallah, March 31 (IslamOnline & News Agences) – Sixty European peace activists sit-in in the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s office Sunday, as the Israeli occupation forces surround Arafat’s headquarter.
The Qatari based satellite channel Al Jazeera reported Sunday that officials from Arafat’s office said that some of the European activists are from France, England and Germany.
Forty of the sixty activists declared that they will sit-in with Arafat and act as human shields for Arafat, Al Jazeera reported.
While the other twenty decided to leave the office, the Qatari based channel said.
The European activists also decided to send messages to their governments saying that they are in danger as long as the Palestinian are too.
A French activist said she and the other activists had the chance to talk to the Palestinian president after that some of them returned to their work.
During his talk with the European activists, Arafat delivered a message to the whole world confirming that he will resist the Israeli occupation till the end.
As he was besieged in his office, Arafat said that he wants to self-sacrifice himself for the sake of Palestine other than to be killed by the Israeli occupation forces that want either to abduct or to kill him.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official said that the Russian and the European envoys to the Middle East, Andrea Vidovine and Miguel Mouratinos, are going to Arafat’s office to meet him.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Russia quoted the Palestinian ambassador to Russia, Khairy Al Ariedi, as saying that there has been U.S. efforts to prevent the Russian delegates to reach Arafat’s office.
Al Ariedi said that Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov asked the Russian envoy to go without the rest of the Russian delegates to Arafat’s office.
In another development, some of the European councils appealed to go to the Palestinian Presidents office. Yet, their appeal was rejected by the Israeli occupation forces, Al Jazeera reported.
