Posted on 01/27/2002 3:56:46 PM PST by RCW2001
Zinni: I never called Arafat a mafioso
By Janine Zacharia
WASHINGTON (January 28) - US special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni said yesterday certain people are trying to spoil his mediation effort by attributing false statements to him about the Palestinian leadership.
Zinni told The Jerusalem Post that reports in Hebrew-language newspapers claiming he described the Palestinian Authority as a "mafia" and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat as the "godfather" of the mafia were false.
"It is lies and gross distortions that are only designed by those who put it out to hurt our peace efforts," Zinni said.
A report in the daily Ma'ariv said Zinni, at a closed dinner meeting at the White House over the weekend, called Arafat "capo di tutti capi" (head of the mafia), and that preventive security service heads Jibril Rajoub and Mohammed Dahlan behave like "capi," or members of the mafia.
The report said he also referred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "papa bear." But no such dinner took place at the White House, and Zinni was not in Washington this weekend.
A similar report in Yediot Aharonot said Zinni had described Arafat as "an incorrigible liar" at a recent meeting in Washington with AIPAC and senior officials at the Israeli embassy in Washington.
An Israeli official in Washington said Zinni made no such comments during the meeting at the embassy on January 17 during IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz's visit, and an AIPAC official, when asked about the reported "mafia" comments and others, said he had never heard anything of the sort.
Zinni said he had no idea where the report originated.
The alleged comments were sent to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in a diplomatic cable from Washington by diplomats here who were briefed by an unidentified Jewish official.
The reported comments emerged as the US reevaluates its relationship with Arafat and as the most senior US officials openly question Arafat's integrity.
Herb Keinon adds:
A participant in the dinner where Zinni's remarks about Arafat were allegedly made said last night that the reports were "grossly distorted."
Steve Rosen, AIPAC's director of foreign policy issues, said reports of Zinni's remarks at the dinner last Tuesday night in Washington, which included three other Jewish leaders, "are grossly inaccurate and misrepresent what he said."
According to Rosen, the reports of the conversation omit much of what was said, thereby dramatically altering the meaning and "creating a false picture."
Rosen said Zinni "spoke in a candid manner, as people do. He said many punchy things about all kinds of personalities. Some of the things are accurate in a narrow sense, but misrepresent the overall meaning - leaving out things that change the meaning."
There were "no survivors" when Zinni finished, Rosen said, "no one came across that great." Rosen said the reports "distort Zinni's intended meaning, and are grossly unfair to him."
Isn't that the position of Al-Qaida?
Please reconsider. You need not respond in kind. BUT . . . gratutious attacks such as the one launched against you OUGHT TO BE REPORTED.
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