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Zinni Meets With Arafat As Journalists Attacked By Israel
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| Zinni and
Arafat |
RAMALLAH,
West Bank, April 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Following
their meeting Friday, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat appointed a
team, led by chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, to meet U.S.
envoy Anthony Zinni to continue the talks, news agencies reported.
Arafat-Zinni
meeting covered ways to implement the Tenet plan for a ceasefire and
the Mitchell plan to relaunch the peace process, Nabil Abu Rudeina,
one of Arafat's top aides told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
meeting between President Arafat and General Zinni ended with an
agreement between the two sides to expand U.S.-Palestinian meetings in
the coming hours," he said.
Zinni
met Friday with besieged Arafat to lay the groundwork for a new U.S.
peace bid in the Middle East led by Secretary of State Colin Powell as
journalists attempting to cover the event were attacked by Israeli
forces.
It
was Zinni’s first meeting with Arafat since Israeli troops began a
massive offensive on the West Bank a week ago, laying siege to the
Palestinian's battered headquarters in a declared bid to isolate
Arafat.
The
talks came a day after U.S. President George W. Bush signaled a shift
in U.S. policy with a speech urging Israel to pull out of the West
Bank towns it seized and announcing that Powell would visit the region
for the second time since assuming his position. There is no definite
word as to whom Powell would be meeting in the region, with the State
Department saying that the schedule on whom Powell would meet depends
on Arab leader reactions to Bush’s statement. They also went on to
state that a decision regarding a meeting with Arafat would be made
following the Zinni-Arafat meeting.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who refused permission for a
European delegation to see Arafat, gave the green light to Zinni after
meeting with him Thursday.
Powell
called Arafat early Friday ahead of the Palestinian's meeting with
Zinni to discuss Bush's speech and the U.S. role in the peace process,
U.S. and Palestinian officials said.
Zinni
arrived in the region on March 14 on his third try to negotiate a
ceasefire to end 18 months of Israeli aggressions, which has seen
almost 1700 Palestinian civilians killed.
But
his mission was eclipsed by the Israeli military offensive that swept
through six of the eight major cities or towns on the West Bank and
featured a roundup of some 1,100 Palestinians.
Meanwhile,
a group of 40 journalists tried to cover the talks Friday but were
chased away by Israeli troops who threw five stun grenades at them,
fired warning shots in the air and yelled over a loudspeaker
"press out, press out."
CNN
reporter Michael Holmes reported Friday that while no one was hurt,
windows of the armored vehicles carrying the press corps were damaged,
and in one case completely blown out. He also reported that some of
the stun grenades landed directly underfoot and one even landed on a
camera.
Journalists
have repeatedly stated over the past week that Israeli soldiers have
confiscated press passes of reporters attempting to cover the Israeli
actions in the recently raided West bank towns.
“Israeli,
Arab, Western…they [Israeli soldiers] don’t care. They are trying
to prevent anyone from reporting,” a press official in Ramallah who
wished to remain anonymous told IslamOnline via telephone Friday.
“It
is like they are trying to punish us for relaying to the world that
Israel is committing atrocities,” she continued.
The
Israelis also rejected a request by some Palestinian officials to
accompany Zinni, according to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erakat.
With
additional reporting by Neveen A. Salem, IOL Staff Writer, Washington
D.C.
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