Posted on 01/08/2002 3:34:48 AM PST by kattracks
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it would release documents later this week proving Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was directly responsible for a weapons cache seized on a captured ship.
Arafat, whose aides have denied he or his Palestinian Authority were involved, ordered an internal investigation into the incident late on Monday. He said any Palestinians found to be complicit would be punished.
Israeli-Palestinian recriminations over the issue have dealt a blow to U.S.-European peace efforts to build on the relative calm that has prevailed since mid-December.
Israel said commandos found 50 tons of mostly Iranian-supplied weapons when they seized the ship in the Red Sea on Thursday. It said the arms, valued at more than $100 million, were destined for the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has accused Arafat of ordering the arms purchase, but Palestinian officials say Israel contrived the incident to undermine a U.S. mission aimed at ending more than 15 months of bloodshed.
Iraq, which has denied involvement, condemned the seizure of the ship as an act of piracy, Iraqi newspapers said on Tuesday.
Israeli officials said they had documents proving Arafat's involvement in arranging the shipment, which included long-range Katyusha rockets, but gave few details of what was in the documents.
"We have all the evidence, including the documents, that leads directly to Arafat and the Palestinian Authority," Daniel Ayalon, Sharon's foreign policy adviser, told Reuters.
Israeli government spokesman Raanan Gissin said the documents would be released in a day or two. He said they would include papers on the ownership of the vessel and the purchase of the weapons.
Asked whether any of the documents carried Arafat's signature, Gissin said: "I don't know...These kinds of transactions are done with shell companies and fake names."
COMPLAINTS OF MISHANDLED PUBLICITY
Some Israeli officials and commentators have complained the government and army mishandled the information campaign on the seizure, saying that explained why the international community had not accepted Israel's account without reservation.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declined to take sides in the dispute on Monday, saying: "The State Department wants to know the facts before we start speculating and drawing grand conclusions."
Following Arafat's meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday evening in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian leader announced an official inquiry into Israel's allegations.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the investigation would be conducted by a team of generals.
He said the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations had been invited to form a committee to review the findings.
"If anything is revealed -- and I personally do not think it will be -- we will not hesitate to bring them (the culprits) before a trial," Arafat told reporters.
Gissin dismissed Arafat's announcement as meaningless.
CAPTAIN ADMITS SMUGGLING ROLE
The ship's Palestinian captain told reporters in the Israeli jail where he was being held that a Palestinian Authority official had given him his orders for the arms shipment, but said he doubted top Palestinian leaders were involved.
The Palestinian Authority said earlier Israel was "magnifying the incident" to avoid honoring a cease-fire.
Israeli military sources said not a single violent incident was reported against Israelis during Monday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was the first such day for months.
At least 800 Palestinians and 234 Israelis have been killed since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000.
Copyright 2001 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.
But but but... I thought that's impossible. I thought that it was, in Solana's words, 'stupid.'
Seven more of these and then it's a settlement freeze. Can the Palestinians make it through>?
And maybe they'll wait until she again hugs and kisses another of her ilk before firing.
It's amazing that the Israelis found the time to do this. After all, they were busy blowing up The World Trade Center in September.
Wow! Arafat is getting serious here. He may even put them under house arrest.
If they have 'documents'...why must we wait until "later this week" to view them?
It's called using your assets wisely. Perhaps these documents show more shipments, or they can trace Arafat's accounts and confiscate some BIG $$$!
What's your rush...you've already made up your mind that it's all some Jew conspiracy, right?
Yoobetcha' RedRidah!
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