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Arafat has been making phone calls to all leaders to save him, in vain so far
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CAIRO,
September 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - World pressure mounted
on Israel Tuesday, September 24, 2002, after a UN Security Council
resolution calling for the Jewish state to lift its five-day-old siege
of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters.
On
behalf of the European Union, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen, whose country holds the rotating EU Presidency, telephoned
Arafat and renewed criticism of the Israeli blockade.
"The
EU is pressing the Israeli government to bring about a de-escalation of
the situation," said the EU Presidency in a statement, adding that
Rasmussen also called for "the greatest possible Palestinian
restraint."
As
Israel turned a deaf ear to the UN resolution passed early Tuesday,
French President Jacques Chirac said that he was "dismayed at the
development of the situation in the Middle East."
"I
believe these methods will achieve nothing, and that the siege of the
Muqataa (Arafat's headquarters) must be lifted, and that Mr. Arafat must
be given back his full freedom to travel," he said at the end of a
Europe-Asia summit in Copenhagen, according to Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Also
speaking from the Danish capital, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad warned that death or injury to the Palestinian President
resulting from the siege could turn him into a martyr and spark "a
great deal of anger" among the world's Muslims.
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair said a new international conference is needed
on the Middle East peace process.
U.S.
President George W. Bush, meanwhile, said Israel's siege was "not
helpful" to enacting Palestinian political and security reforms
that are needed for peace.
However,
he stopped short of calling on Israel to withdraw and defended the U.S.
decision to abstain from the Security Council resolution demanding
Israel end the operation as sending "a message" to both sides.
"Our
abstention should have sent a message that we hope that all parties stay
on the path to peace," Bush said.
The
U.S. refusal to veto the resolution as it has done in past situations
was seen as a rebuke to Israel, which refused to end its blockade until
Arafat hands over at least 20 wanted activists Israel claims are holed
up with him.
But,
as soon as European-drafted Resolution 1435 condemning the destruction
of the veteran leader's West Bank compound in Ramallah and urging the
army to lift the siege was adopted, Israel vowed to pursue the
operation.
"The
United Nations can do what it wants, but Israel will continue the
operation until its aims are achieved," a senior Israeli official
told AFP.
Egypt,
for its part, hailed Resolution 1435, with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher
saying it "constitutes new pressure on Israel".
"We
expect that the United States will contribute with the rest of the
Security Council members to apply this resolution (for) a withdrawal and
the lifting of the siege," Maher said.
Pope
John Paul II joined Muslim states and the rest of the world in demanding
that Israel lift the siege.
The
Pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro Valls, said the Pope urged "the
suspension of all actions which compromise the already faint hopes for
peace in the region," in a message to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon.
The
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), based in Saudi Arabia,
called for the "immediate intervention" of the international
community to end the blockade around Arafat's offices.
The
Secretary General of the 57-member OIC, Abdul Wahed Belqeziz, said that
the siege was a "flagrant defiance of international conventions,
agreements and laws."
From
the other end of the world, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi
telephoned Arafat to inform him that he had made a request for Israel to
lift the siege.
Kawaguchi
also reminded Arafat of the need to crack down on suicide attacks
against Israel, a Japanese official said in Tokyo.
However,
it seems that Israel is still a country above the law and stronger than
the will of the international community, according to observers and
political analysts.
