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Powell Telephones Arafat on Explosive Situation
GAZA CITY, Oct 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Palestinian Authority demanded Sunday strong international intervention to halt Israel's siege on six Palestinian cities throughout the West Bank, as the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) called for an urgent U.N. Security Council session to end "Israeli aggression" against the Palestinians, the Qatari QNA news agency reported.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sounded the alarm in a phone conversation Sunday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Arafat's senior advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Arafat asked for U.S. President George Bush and his administration to intervene and pressure the Israelis to withdraw from Palestinian territory, to stop the occupation and to withdraw from Palestinian towns and villages," Abu Rudeina said.
"There was an agreement between Powell and Arafat to be in touch between the two sides."
Arafat also called U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan late Saturday and "asked Annan to take steps to stop the attacks on the Palestinian people and cities and to guard and push the peace process forward," Abu Rudeina added.
Arafat informed Annan of the Israeli troops fanning out into Palestinian self-rule cities and urged the convening of a U.N. Security Council emergency session, Rudeina said.
The OIC chairman in Qatar also urged the world body to convene the emergency meeting Sunday. The OIC met in Qatar earlier this month in order to discuss the current U.S. aggression on Afghanistan and the future of the Palestinian issue.
So far, 22 Palestinians have died since Israel launched military operations Thursday following the assassination of Israel's tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the murder.
At least 20 PFLP members have been arrested by the Palestinian Authority in connection with the assassination. But Palestinian officials have refused Israeli requests to extradite the suspects and say they will be tried in Palestinian courts.
Since the beginning of the current Intifada, or uprising, against illegal Israeli occupation began 13 months ago, Israel has assassinated 59 Palestinian political officials in its world-renounced policy of liquidation.
Israeli right -wing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for the liquidation of the Palestinian Authority late last week - a statement confirmed by MANBC this morning, saying - Arafat has seven days to "restore" calm in the area, otherwise Israel will go to "war against him". Sharon concluded his statement with a chilling threat saying, "The era of Arafat is over."
The report comes as the Palestinian Authority discovered late last week Israeli plans to assassinate Arafat.
"The Israeli government must pull out its forces as soon as possible," Abdel Rahim said in a statement.
"If they continue this aggression, it will lead to an explosion of the whole situation, which no one will be able to control. No one will know the end of it, or how many victims there will be for the two parties."
He stressed the Palestinian commitment to the truce agreement hammered out between Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres at the end of September.
However, Abdel Rahim warned Israel's three-day blitz risked, "destroying the peace process and increasing the violence and instability."
"The Palestinian Authority is sounding the alarm and asking the Israelis to stop. We ask the United States, Russia, European countries, to play a role before its too late."
Abdel Rahim issued a warning to paramilitary wings of Palestinian secular and Islamic parties not to mount any challenge to the Palestinians' truce initiative.
"The Palestinian Authority is still committed to the ceasefire. Anyone who violates that decision is outside of the law," he said.
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