Israeli media said on Monday some of the 50 Palestinians who Israel wanted to arrest for alleged links to suicide bombings had sneaked out of the complex after the army pullout on Sunday.Posted on 10/01/2002 5:54:54 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli army sharpshooters took up positions overlooking Yasser Arafat's compound on Tuesday amid reports some militants had slipped out after troops aborted a siege under U.S. pressure.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, smarting from the humiliation of having to scrap the siege without arresting wanted men inside, predicted Israel would halt Palestinian "terror" within a few months and pave the way for political talks.
Palestinian security sources said marksmen were seen taking over several buildings with clear views of the presidential compound in Ramallah in an apparent bid to stop more militants getting away. The army had no comment.
Israeli media said on Monday some of the 50 Palestinians who Israel wanted to arrest for alleged links to suicide bombings had sneaked out of the complex after the army pullout on Sunday.
Israel's Maariv daily said Sharon had telephoned Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer from Moscow, where he was on a two-day visit, to berate him for letting militants flee.
"Why don't you follow orders? We agreed that the terrorists will not leave there. We agreed. And now I hear that some of them have left," the prime minister was quoted as saying.
A senior source in Sharon's delegation in Moscow told reporters: "Whoever has escaped will be caught."
Bowing to U.S. pressure not to upset its pursuit of U.N. backing for possible military action against Iraq, Sharon withdrew forces after a 10-day siege in which they razed every building except the Palestinian president's main offices.
Tanks and troops had stormed the compound after two Palestinian suicide bombings killed seven people in Israel.
"The decision to go in was correct. It has significance as a deterrent (to violence)," the senior Israeli source said. "But the siege ended up being something that hindered the United States from carrying out a most important mission."
BULLDOZERS CLEAR RUBBLE
Inside the compound on Tuesday, Palestinian bulldozers cleared rubble left by Israeli bulldozers and tanks. Workers reinstalled phone lines and windows in Arafat's office building.
Sharon, in remarks broadcast from Moscow by Israel's Army Radio, did not say what led him to believe the two-year-old Palestinian uprising could be put down soon.
"I am sure that within a few months we will succeed in ending the terror and prepare the political process," the right-wing premier said, without elaborating.
Maariv quoted senior Israeli sources as saying Sharon had assigned Ephraim Halevy, outgoing head of the Mossad intelligence service, to cultivate contacts with Palestinian officials, bypassing Arafat.
Israel has accused Arafat of orchestrating violence and ruled out further peace talks until he is replaced. Arafat has denied sponsoring militant attacks and aides say no peace deal is feasible without his participation.
Maariv said meetings were being held with mediation by a third country believed to be a Gulf Arab emirate.
Sharon has previously said Israel faced a long war against Palestinian militant groups and would win, but had avoided specifying a time frame.
PALESTINIANS SAY OCCUPATION MUST END
A senior Palestinian official said violence would not abate until Israel ended a grinding army occupation of West Bank cities. Palestinians say Israel must also give them hope for a viable independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Sharon can stop (violence) by pulling out of Palestinian territories, so if he is going to do that in the next few months, this is really the only way the Intifada (uprising) will stop," said Nabil Shaath, Palestinian minister for planning and international cooperation.
While easing pressure on Arafat, Israeli troops rounded up 32 Palestinians linked to militant violence in overnight raids.
At least 1,575 Palestinians and 602 Israelis have been killed since the uprising broke out in September 2000 after U.S.-brokered talks on Palestinian statehood foundered.
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