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Palestinians
Dismiss Bush’s Accusations Of ‘Their Elected President’
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| Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat prays at his compound in Ramallah |
GAZA
CITY, April 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Palestinian
officials Thursday blasted U.S. President George W. Bush's charge that
their leader Yasser Arafat "betrayed his people" and was to
blame for the current violence in the Palestinian territories.
"We
cannot approve what President Bush said about President Arafat because
Mr Arafat is the elected leader of his people," chief Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erakat told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Stressing
the same meaning, but in a clearer reading of Bush’s statements, a
minister in Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) charged that Bush gave
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a "license to kill"
Arafat by blaming the Palestinian leader for the current crisis.
Civil
organizations minister Hassan Asfur was speaking on Qatar-based
Al-Jazeera television from Ramallah.
"The
crux (of Bush's address) is that it confers legitimacy on (Israeli
army chief Shaul) Mofaz and Sharon to press ahead with their plan ...
(to finish off) Arafat," Asfur said.
"He
(Bush) was telling the Palestinian people that ... (Arafat's)
leadership is the obstacle to a solution," he charged.
The
gist of Bush's message is that "president Arafat is to blame for
the terror and we must get rid of him. Bush today gave the go-ahead
for the liquidation of the president (Arafat) and the
leadership," Asfur said.
Erakat,
however, added that Arafat, trapped for a week in what remains of his
West Bank headquarters by the Israeli occupation army, was prepared to
see U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, sent to the region by Bush.
He
wanted to see the implementation of last week's UN Security Council
resolution 1402, calling for Israel's withdrawal from Ramallah and an
immediate ceasefire, and the Tenet and Mitchell peace plans, Erakat
added.
"We
want an American political vision on the Israeli withdrawal and an
implementation of this vision. The Israeli occupation constitutes the
highest form of terrorism," he said.
For
his part, Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo echoed
the same message. "Arafat is the elected president of the
Palestinians and we want America to end the Israeli occupation and
aggression," Abd Rabbo said.
He
demanded to know if the Israeli occupation would continue until Powell
arrived next week.
In
another development, Sharon reportedly authorized U.S. peace envoy
Anthony Zinni Thursday to see the besieged Arafat, an Israeli official
said.
The
official said Sharon made the decision after a meeting with the
American envoy. An Israeli spokesman said it would be up to Zinni to
fix a date to meet with Arafat.
It
would be the first time Zinni met with Arafat since the start of the
ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian territories that began on
Friday. Arafat has been pinned in his West Bank offices by Israeli
troops since then.
Bush
on Thursday harshly criticized Arafat for (allegedly) having
"betrayed the hopes" of his own people and demanded
"better leadership" for the Palestinians.
Arafat,
he accused, had "missed his opportunities" to bring peace to
the region, "and thereby betrayed the hopes of the people he is
supposed to lead."
"The
situation he finds himself in today is largely of his own
making," the U.S. president said outside the White House in a
major address on the volatile situation in the Middle East.
Bush
also took a strong tack on Israel, calling on the U.S. ally to
"halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas and begin the
withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied." 
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