Posted on 12/07/2001 4:31:44 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
Angered that the United States has not criticized the Israeli strikes against his people, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused Americans of pro-Israel bias in an interview Friday with Israeli television.
Meanwhile, two Israeli helicopters fired nine missiles at a Palestinian security compound at Rafah overnight in the southern Gaza Strip, security officials and witnesses said.
Earlier Friday, an F-16 jet carried out a pre-dawn raid on a police compound, injuring 20. Also, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank.
Despite that Israeli attack, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni brokered a meeting in Tel Aviv Friday between top Israeli and Palestinian security officials in an effort to quell the latest crisis, set off by suicide bombings in Israel that killed 25 people last weekend.
Arafat has been under intense American pressure to arrest militants suspected by Israel of involvement in the bombings and other attacks.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Saturday that Arafat was still leader of the Palestinian people, offering him a gesture of support in one of the bloodiest weeks in 14 months of Middle East conflict. Powell talked to reporters as he flew to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.
Powell also played down remarks on Friday by the Turkish premier, who said on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had told him he wanted to "be rid of" Arafat.
Palestinian forces say they have arrested about 180 suspects in recent days but the United States has been skeptical, saying those detained will probably be released as part of a Palestinian "revolving door" policy.
Arafat was visibly irritated when asked about the American pressure by the interviewer for Channel One.
"Dear God, who cares about the Americans?" Arafat said in the interview Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "The Americans are on your side and they give you everything. Who gives you airplanes? The Americans."
Arafat was referring to the $2.7 billion in annual American aid, which Israel uses in part to buy fighter jets.
When the interviewer attempted to ask Arafat about Zinni's diplomatic efforts, Arafat cut him off, saying; "Don't talk to me about the Americans."
Zinni was trying in the security meeting in Tel Aviv Friday to bring the security leaders of both sides closer toward a cease-fire in the 14 months of violence.
"The discussion was constructive and focused on security, specifically practical steps to combat terror and violence," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the talks "pretty rough," saying Israel had demanded that Arafat wage a more effective fight against terrorists and stop those firing mortars at Jewish villages.
Israel said it would halt its military strikes when the attacks stop, the source said. Friday's meeting did not produce any agreement, but Israel assented to an American request for another session next week.
A Palestinian official, who also declined to be identified, said his side had reiterated its view that Israeli strikes and a clampdown on movement into and out of the Palestinian territories were hindering efforts to capture terrorists. He said the next meeting would be Sunday.
The talks opened hours after Israel ended a two-day pause in military action, which officials had said was meant to give Arafat a chance to broaden his crackdown on Islamic militants.
Israel calls the arrests by Arafat's forces insufficient, saying police have rounded up low-level operators and left those masterminding attacks at large.
Arafat told Israeli television that Palestinian police near the West Bank town of Jenin had arrested 17 of the 33 people on a wanted listed given to him by Zinni.
Nonetheless, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said after the morning raid that Arafat "needs to do more." He told Army Radio, "We are facing a constant threat of terrorists trying to get into Israel."
The Israeli army said in a statement that its air strike targeted the "Palestinian security apparatus that supports and aids terrorist operations." Another statement described the facility as a mortar shell factory.
Later Friday, five mortar shells were fired toward Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip but no injuries were reported, the army said.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, doctors were treating at least 20 wounded — 18 police and two civilians — in the 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) strike on two buildings at the Palestinian police's Gaza City headquarters. Two buildings were wrecked.
Violence flared later in the day when Israeli troops near the northern West Bank village of a-Dik fatally shot two Palestinians the army said were planning to attack Israelis on a nearby road.
Palestinian security officials said the two, activists in Arafat's Fatah party, had gone missing and were presumed shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
In Gaza City, demonstrators briefly scuffled with Palestinian police during a funeral for a Hamas supporter killed a day earlier at a violent protest against Arafat's decision to place Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin under house arrest.
Police withdrew earlier from the area around Yassin's house after the government reached an agreement under which he agreed to remain in his house and refrain from giving interviews, said a Palestinian security official speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.S. should let Israel blast Arafat.
Mr. Arafat, we sure as hell don't give a rat's ass about you. Maybe we'd be more sympathetic to your cause if you apologized for killing our diplomats in Khartoum.
You either need sand for that, or you need to harbor zip for conscience. If it's the latter, that depth of lack of character ought to be submitted to Guiness.
Nothing to admire here. He is about to be fired from what looked like a permanent job. So, It's not my fault; the company is to blame.
duh !
This guy's as stupid as he is ugly!!
And who gave Arafat's terrorist force m16's? Americans!
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