Posted on 04/28/2002 1:07:42 PM PDT by buzzyboop
Israel and the Palestinians agreed Sunday to accept a U.S. proposal that would place six wanted men in a Palestinian jail under the watchful eyes of American and British guards — a deal that would end the month-old Israeli siege of Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s West Bank headquarters and enable the Palestinian leader to travel freely for the first time since December.
Israel's Cabinet adopted President Bush (news - web sites)'s proposal in a 17-9 vote. Senior Arafat aides said the Palestinian leader also accepted the plan, which ultimately would free him from the sights of Israeli snipers crouched in the buildings around him.
"We expect the siege imposed on President Arafat's office to be lifted the day after tomorrow," said Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo. The deal would allow Arafat to travel in the Palestinian territories or abroad.
Accepting the plan, according to an Israeli Cabinet minister, was important to avoid angering the United States over another Cabinet decision: Ministers decided to bar a U.N. fact-finding mission from investigating allegations surrounding Israeli army actions in a West Bank refugee camp.
After seven hours of Cabinet discussion, Communications Minister Reuven Rivlin briefed reporters, saying the United Nations (news - web sites) had reneged on agreements with Israel. The team's composition and intentions, he said, made it inevitable that Israel would be unjustly blamed.
"This awful United Nations committee is out to get us and is likely to smear Israel and to force us to do things which Israel is not prepared even to hear about, such as interrogating soldiers and officers who took part in the fighting," he said. "No country in the world would agree to such a thing."
Until Bush's compromise plan, Israel had said it would not allow Arafat out of his shell-shattered West Bank compound until it had custody of the six wanted men inside with him. Five of the six were wanted in connection with the October assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. The sixth was accused of trafficking arms from Iran to the Palestinian territories.
Bush's proposal, according to Israeli officials, would have Israel standing by its "legitimate demand" that the six wanted men be handed over to Israel. But as long as British jailers and American representatives ensure they remain imprisoned, they apparently could stay in an isolated jail in Palestinian territory.
Asked how long they would remain jailed, Sharon spokesman Arnon Perlman responded: "I think they will remain in prison unless they are extradited to Israel."
Four of the six were convicted last week in a hastily convened, one-session Palestinian court and received sentences of one to 18 years; the two others have yet to stand trial in any court. The Palestinians had arrested the six and were holding them at a prison in Arafat's compound before the Israeli incursion. They were moved into Arafat's offices to keep them out of Israeli hands.
Bush called Sharon on Saturday to propose that U.S. and British nonmilitary personnel guard the six, U.S. officials said.
Bush, who was at his Texas ranch, praised the Israeli Cabinet's acceptance of the proposal, calling it "helpful and constructive," the White House said in a statement. There was no comment after the Palestinian acceptance.
Later Sunday, U.S. and British consular officials met with Arafat in his Ramallah headquarters to directly convey the U.S. proposal. Afterward, Abu Rdeneh told The Associated Press that Arafat had accepted it. Mohammed Rashid, another senior Arafat adviser, earlier had called the proposal "a big step in the right direction."
There was no indication about when the plan would go into effect — and it appeared that Israel's siege of Arafat's compound would continue until then.
Israel has kept Arafat confined to the compound since early December, aside from a few brief trips into the city of Ramallah. However, he has not been able to leave his office building since the March 29 incursion into the West Bank aimed at dismantling Palestinian militias behind deadly attacks on Israelis. Dozens of Palestinian gunmen have been killed, including some on Israel's most-wanted list, and more than 1,500 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody.
Rivlin indicated the Cabinet agreed to the U.S. proposal on Ramallah essentially because it would need American support for its dispute with the United Nations. Before formally barring the committee Sunday, Israel raised several objections to the U.N. Security Council's fact-finding mission appointed to look into Palestinian claims — and Israeli denials — of a massacre in the camp during eight days of fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen.
Rivlin said Bush held three separate conversations with Sharon on Saturday about the Ramallah plan, and that saying no would leave Israel "to face the need to fight the committee when the Americans would be angry with us."
"Everybody agreed on the need to approve the request of the President of the United States in the knowledge that his help ... in the situation in which Israel finds itself now is the most important thing," Rivlin said. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) did not immediately comment on the Israeli decision.
Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman accused Israel of trying to make the committee meaningless. "They claim there is nothing to hide," he said. "What then is the explanation of all these obstacles in front of the committee to prevent it from starting its mission?"
Israel originally agreed to cooperate with the fact-finding team, but it has grown increasingly critical of it. In recent days, Israel has sought delays in the team's arrival and sent representatives to U.N. headquarters in New York to try to expand the core team to include military and counterterrorism experts and to clarify its mandate.
The main sticking points had been Israel's request it decide which Israelis would testify, and that the team would not investigate Israel's military operations beyond events in the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold that was scene of the fiercest battles of the campaign.
Twenty-three Israeli soldiers died in Jenin; the Palestinian death toll is uncertain, with about 48 bodies found so far.
"Israel won't sit in the place of the accused," Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said before Cabinet deliberations ended. "Israel will sit in the place of the accuser. This is an attempt to place baseless blame, almost a blood libel, on Israel."
Perlman, the spokesman, said Peres called the committee and advised them that they would be "delayed until further clarifications."
The three-member team, headed by former Finnish president Martti Athisaari, and various advisers including retired U.S. Maj. Gen. William Nash, have been waiting in Geneva, Switzerland, for an Israeli decision.
I fully support President Bush, but I believe he is opening Pandora's box again. If Arafat acts like Arafat, terror attacks will follow, and President Bush won't be able to claim that he didn't know this was likely. Arafat needs to be removed from the scene, not thrust back into center stage.
Following Colon Bowell's advice and pandering to the Arabs will not win the war against terror. It won't stop jihadists from launching attacks or acquiring nukes.
It is becoming more and more appartent that the only ally we can truely rely on when things get sticky is the Brits. While I would also like to include the Israelis in that catagory, they have so much on their plate right now trying to survive, that they need to worry only about themselves and their own self preservation.
I trust there is a good reason for letting Arafat go this time, and it being his last change to clean it up is the only reason I can think of.
The repercussions of him being taken out would certainly would have complicated things for us in dealing with Saddam, et al. If he doesn't completely toe the line, than we probably need to give the Israelies the green light to do what ever they need to do.
Since when have European governments succeeded at anything? It is no coincidence that Bush's slide in popularity began when he started to show signs of weakness.
These guys will not have it bad. Probably will be a country club with some makeshift bars on the windows.
He isn't following Sharon's orders; he is following Abdullah's orders. The same Abdullah whose 15 goons flew airplanes into our buildings.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.