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| Arafat talks with Powell at his besieged office in the West Bank town of Ramallah |
GAZA
CITY, April 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat stressed in talks Sunday, April 14, with U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell "the necessity for an immediate
Israeli withdrawal" from the West Bank, Arafat aide Nabil Abu
Rudeina said, news agencies reported.
Calling
the discussions "long and serious", Abu Rudeina said Arafat
"informed Powell of the situation on the ground and insisted on
the necessity for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from all the
Palestinian towns, villages, camps and other areas."
Arafat
expressed serious concerns about the suffering of the Palestinian
people, especially in Jenin, the site of fierce fighting, he added.
The
two men agreed that talks would continue within the next 24 hours, Abu
Rudeina said, giving no details, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"There
was a clear and open exchange of opinions between the two sides, but
we want more efforts and pressure from the Americans to get us out of
this crisis and end the war and aggression declared by the Israeli
government on the Palestinian people and leadership," he said.
The
two men met for more than three hours in Arafat's besieged
headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which the Israelis
attacked on March 29 as part of a massive military offensive in
Palestinian autonomous territory.
Powell
called the talks "useful and productive", adding, "We
exchanged a variety of ideas and discussed steps how we can move
forward."
"Members
of my staff will be meeting with members of his staff again
tomorrow," he said.
Powell
entered the compound in the embattled West Bank surrounded by helmeted
U.S. security personnel armed with submachine guns. He traveled the 12
miles from Jerusalem in a motorcade of six armored vans.
Powell
said nothing to reporters as he entered Arafat's headquarters, a
structure heavily damaged by Israeli shelling and gunfire. A gaping
hole was torn in the blackened exterior wall of his compound, which
was marked by bullet tracks. Many buildings have been reduced to piles
of rubble.
Israeli
tanks pulled back slightly from the compound for the meeting.
Arafat
did not emerge from his office to speak with reporters after meeting
with Powell.
"Arafat did not come out for security reasons," senior
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, gesturing toward an adjoining
building held by the Israeli occupation forces where soldiers peered
out of windows. "You see the Israeli snipers all around. We are
not going to take that risk."
About
two dozen international protesters shouted slogans inside the
compound, yelling "Free Palestine! End the occupation!"
Powell
decided to meet with Arafat after the Palestinian president was forced
by the White House to denounce resistance operations which the U.S.
referred to as “terrorism” Saturday.
The
talks had been delayed 24 hours because Arafat initially ignored U.S.
calls to condemn the Friday retaliatory attack of a Palestinian bomber
near a Jerusalem marketplace, which killed six and injured scores.
Powell
is to visit Lebanon Monday, April 15, followed by a visit to Syria.
Lebanon
and Syria, key players in the Arab-Israeli conflict, were not on the
original schedule of Powell's tour which began a week ago and took in
Morocco, Egypt and Jordan.
Meanwhile,
Egypt's government-run newspapers hammered Powell's tour, accusing the
top U.S. diplomat of "being numb" to Palestinian suffering.
"It is the right of every Arab citizen to feel astonished and
confused about this fierce hostility the U.S. administration is
showing towards Arabs and Palestinians," wrote Jalal Dweidar, the
editor of Al-Akhbar newspaper.
Powell
arrived in Israel Thursday night with the crucial task of reining in
18 months of rising Israeli violence, which has culminated in Israel's
reoccupying West Bank cities and villages since March 29.
Reports
of hundreds of Palestinian deaths and mass arrests have leaked out
from the West Bank, despite the occupation army's sealing off cities
like Jenin to reporters and humanitarian groups
Powell
"didn't feel the screams and suffering of the martyrs in Jenin
refugee camp," wrote Ibrahim Nafie, Al Ahram's editor-in-chief,
about the spot hit by some of the most brutal fighting. "He
didn't even ask Israel to withdraw immediately."
Powell
met with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Friday who shrugged off
U.S. demands for Israel to end its West Bank military offensive
immediately.
Nafie
also blamed the hawkish Sharon for provoking Palestinian retaliatory
bombings and other resistance operations. "Everyone should
understand that what happened in Haifa, Netanya, Jerusalem is only a
reaction to what this stupid, crazy man is doing," he added,
referring to Israeli cities hit by retaliatory attacks.
"We
are people with very old civilizations preceding other civilizations
and it is difficult for any racist ideas to remove us from our lands
and our roots and Washington should realize that," he said.
"It
should also realize that its interest in the long run are not with a
racist state like Israel," he added.
