 |
|
The
Israeli army blows up a building in Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat's Ramallah compound on September 20
|
PARIS,
September 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Several countries
have called on Israeli, on Sunday, to immediately halt its siege of
the West Bank headquarters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"The
military operation underway against the office of the president of the
Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is unacceptable," the French
Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "France asks that it be
halted immediately."
On
Saturday, Israeli tanks were just 10 meters (yards) from Arafat's
office after the army destroyed every other building in his
headquarters, abducting 19 people, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
The
French foreign ministry described the developments in the Middle East
as "alarming." "We call again on the Israeli
authorities... to do nothing that would harm the physical security of
the president of the Palestinian Authority and the ministers around
him."
"It
is essential that everyone mobilizes to ensure the success of the
fight against terrorism, the process of Palestinian reforms and
implementation of the 'quartet' roadmap," the ministry said,
referring to a plan by the so-called Middle East quartet -- the United
States, the EU, Russia and the UN -- aimed at defusing the crisis and
creating a Palestinian state.
"That
is the direction the parties must take," it added.
Meanwhile,
Egypt called on the United States and France Saturday to
"make" Israel lift its siege the Egyptian Foreign Ministry
said.
Egyptian
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher made his appeal in separate telephone
conversations with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and French
Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who both said they were in
touch with the Israelis.
Maher's
office said in a statement he had discussed "the dangerous
situation in the Palestinian territories and the latest Israeli
aggression against the Palestinian president's headquarters in
Ramallah."
The
Egyptian minister "urged his American counterpart to intervene
immediately to make Israel halt its aggression," it added.
Powell
replied that he was "in contact with the Israeli side to calm the
situation and prevent an escalation."
De
Villepin, also asked "to intervene rapidly to end this Israeli
aggression", replied that he had contacted Israeli, U.S. and
Palestinian officials and would "continue his efforts to cool the
situation down."
In
addition, Pakistan also on Saturday condemned Israel's attack on
Arafat’s headquarters, describing it as a blow to peace efforts.
The
Pakistani foreign ministry said the attack, the third since March, and
the decision to isolate Arafat completely, "constitutes a blatant
violation of all norms of international law and further aggravates the
tense situation in the region.
"Israel's
aggression... clearly jeopardizes the efforts of the international
community for the resumption of peace negotiations," the ministry
said in a statement.
However,
the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani
told the Qatari Al Jazeera Satellite Channel on Saturday that Israel
has promised not to harm President Arafat despite its siege of his
West Bank headquarters.
"The
Israelis have pledged that Yasser Arafat will not be harmed,"
said Sheikh Hamad adding that he made contact with the Israeli
authorities after receiving a telephone call from Arafat Friday
informing him of the "dangerous situation at the headquarters,
transformed into rubble by the Israeli army."
"I
held the necessary contacts and spoke directly to the Israelis,"
said the minister, without elaborating on which officials he dealt
with. He said the siege "should stop."
Sheikh
Hamad, whose country is the current chair of the 57-nation
Organization of the Islamic Conference, added that he would pursue
efforts with the UN Security Council and the United States for the
resumption of negotiations.
"A
return to the negotiations is the only way to defuse the crisis,"
he said. Qatar's chairmanship of the OIC forced it to shut down an
Israeli trade office, which opened in 1996, ahead of a summit hosted
by Doha in 2000.
But
the Gulf state maintained ties with Israel, as Sheikh Hamad met with
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in July in Paris, reported AFP.
Meanwhile,
Hisham Yusef, a spokesman for the Arab League said its chief Amr Mussa
received a telephone call from Arafat in his besieged headquarters
overnight urging concerted Arab action against the Israeli assault.
"The
Palestinian president asked the secretary general for Arab states to
use all their powers of diplomacy to halt the ferocious Israeli
onslaught" on his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah,
Yusef told reporters on Saturday.
Mussa,
who is on a visit to Chicago, "checked on Mr. Arafat's situation
and asked the Palestinian president about the details of the campaign
of invasion, shelling and arrests which the Israeli occupation forces
have launched against his headquarters," Yusef said.
The
Arab League chief was considering seeking an emergency meeting of the
Jerusalem Committee of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic
Conference, he added.
The
Israeli army moved into Arafat's headquarters compound late Thursday
after two bombings in Israel. By Saturday it had demolished all but
the building housing Arafat's offices.
In
another development, AFP reported that Israeli Defense Minister
Binyamin Ben Eliezer has rejected a request from Arafat's number two,
Mahmud Abbas, to visit him in his besieged offices, officials said
Saturday.
Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, another cabinet member from Israel's
dovish Labor Party, rejected a similar request from senior negotiator
Saeb Erakat, the official added.
The
Palestinians had requested permission for the meetings "to
discuss how to put an end to this escalation," the official said.
Earlier
Israeli public radio reported that Ben Eliezer had assured Abbas, who
is also known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mazen, that the Israeli
troops occupying Arafat's compound did not intend to harm the
Palestinian leader.
Israel
only wanted to obtain the surrender of around 20 intelligence and
security commanders holed up in Arafat's offices whom it accuses of
links to militant groups, he said.
