Posted on 03/14/2002 5:54:50 PM PST by RCW2001
Zinni tells Sharon: Leave Palestinian areas
| By Gil Hoffman and Lamia Lahoud | March, 15 2002 |
JERUSALEM (March 15) - US envoy Anthony Zinni last night asked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to remove IDF troops from Palestinian-controlled areas, reinforcing a call from the US State Department earlier in the day.
Diplomatic sources said Zinni, who arrived here yesterday evening, expressed support for State Department spokesman Richard Boucher's call for Israel to complete its withdrawal from Palestinian territories in meetings with Sharon and senior Israeli officials, as well as with European Union envoy Miguel Moratinos and UN representative Terje Larsen.
The Israeli leaders assured Zinni they would pull forces out of Ramallah, and shortly before midnight, the last IDF tanks began completing their withdrawal from the Palestinian town.
"We want to see a full withdrawal," Boucher said. "That is what we want to see them do." The demand aligned the Bush administration with the Palestinian Authority on the issue and accelerated the growing US criticism of Israel's tactics in its struggle against terrorism.
Boucher said a pullout would create a better environment for Zinni to try to rebuild a truce between Israel and the Palestinians. "We do expect a complete withdrawal from Palestinian-controlled areas, including Ramallah, and the other areas the Israel Defense Forces recently entered," Boucher said.
He coupled the demand with a now-familiar call on PA Chairman Yasser Arafat "to do more to stop the groups that carry out violence."
Zinni had a private meeting with Sharon after a late-night dinner with him, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.
Upon Zinni's arrival, Mossad head Ephraim Halevy, OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka, and Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter briefed Zinni on the current state of the territories.
Zinni will meet more in depth with Ben-Eliezer and Peres today, before leaving to the PA-controlled areas.
Along the way to Sharon's residence, Zinni was to stop at the nearby Moment cafe in Jerusalem, where a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people last Saturday night.
Sharon was expected to accept Zinni's request for a cease-fire and a freeze of IDF operations in the territories, if the PA agrees to reciprocity.
But Israel is not expected to agree to end its policy of targeted killings of would-be suicide bombers.
Zinni hopes to convene a joint Israeli-Palestinian security meeting as soon as possible, in which Ben-Eliezer, Dichter, and IDF generals will meet with Palestinian security chiefs Jibril Rajoub and Muhammad Dahlan.
The Prime Minister's Office announced yesterday that Sharon had directed Ben-Eliezer to redeploy in the Ramallah region upon the successful completion of IDF operations a few hours before Zinni's arrival.
Sharon expressed satisfaction with the results of the operations. He said he hopes their results will aid the diplomatic effort, whose purpose is to secure a complete and permanent cease-fire.
Ben-Eliezer was angry at the Sharon announcement, because it was he who ordered the IDF redeployment. He accused Sharon of endangering IDF soldiers by rushing to release the statement to the press and take credit for the redeployment before the officers in Ramallah knew about the decision.
"The orders were given after an extensive assessment of the situation by Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer in conjunction with security officials, which led to the conclusion that the IDF action within the city had achieved its ends," a Defense Ministry statement said.
The dispute came a day after Sharon and Ben-Eliezer faced off in a security cabinet meeting about how far to extend troops in Ramallah.
A diplomatic official said the Prime Minister's Office statement was purposely vague in order to not interfere with the authority of Ben-Eliezer or the work of IDF officers in the field.
A spokeswoman for Ben-Eliezer said that, unlike Wednesday night, when Ben-Eliezer complained the IDF was staying in Ramallah only to use the withdrawal as a bargaining chip with Zinni, the defense minister now believes all of the remaining IDF operations are legitimate.
Peres and Ben-Eliezer denied Palestinian allegations that the Tenet plan is out of date. The main request of Israel in the plan is to redeploy IDF forces to positions held before the outbreak of violence on September 27, 2000.
The plan calls for the PA to immediately apprehend, question, and incarcerate terrorists; collect mortars and other illegal arms; provide Israel with information on expected terror actions; and refrain from inciting and helping people carry out attacks against Israel and the settlements.
Dahlan told The Jerusalem Post yesterday evening there will be no joint security meeting or any other meetings between the Israelis and the Palestinians unless Zinni can convince Israel to withdraw from Palestinian towns and refugee camps first.
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, meanwhile, vowed that his movement would continue to carry out attacks during Zinni's visit.
"There won't be any connections or any meetings with any Israelis until they stop their aggression and withdraw from all the cities, including Bethlehem and Ramallah, and cities in Gaza," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior aide and spokesman for Arafat.
"Once the Israelis pull back their troops and stop their military offensive, we can meet to discuss the timetable for the implementation of the Tenet plan," Dahlan added.
Zinni is to meet with Arafat tonight. Tomorrow he may meet with other Palestinian officials, including Palestinian security chiefs. Only after these bilateral meetings with the Palestinians will there be a higher security meeting, provided the IDF pulls out of towns and refuge camps, one PA source said.
Palestinian officials charged that the IDF operation was a "total failure," saying it only destroyed civilian infrastructure, but did not succeed in dismantling the terrorist infrastructure. "I challenge the Israelis [to admit] they did not arrest any of the wanted [suspects]... or collect illegal arms," Dahlan said.
Palestinian sources said most of the weapons confiscated belonged to the security services. "They only managed to destroy hospitals, schools ....and they created 1,000 new suicide bombers," a senior PA security official added.
Palestinian officials said they expect Zinni to pressure Sharon to start pulling out of the Palestinian areas by last night.
Palestinian security sources said they believe there is chaos on the ground, with Sharon and Ben-Eliezer giving contradicting orders, and each local officer giving his own orders, too.
(News agencies contributed to this report.)
I won't, I won't, type what I am thinking....don't wanna get banned LOL....
With An Appeal From The Palestine Monitor
Everyone I met in Israel wanted me to come as a tourist, but no one wanted me to go a place called the Gaza Strip in occupied Palestine. Israel claims the Gaza Strip and its million plus inhabitants as a part of Israel. Thanks to my friends, who encouraged me, I went, and without them I would not have gone. God helped overcome the propaganda resistance of all those who did not want me to meet the people in Gaza and write about them.
After five wonderful, but sometimes-painful days, no doubt remains that Israel’s attacks on the people there are simply the executions of prisoners in as open-air jail. It is done with powerful, high-tech military machines provided by the US taxpayers against people that have nothing with which to fight back except commitment and courage, rocks and an occasional smuggled rifle or a backpack full of explosives. The Palestinians must use human bodies to deliver their scarce explosives. Israel spends uncounted millions crushing the rubble that was once schools, jails or office buildings. I saw the rubble and I saw and photographed the bombardment! Apaches and F-16s missiles are awful to behold and cannot help but terrify the surviving prisoners. The Palestinians fight back with guerilla tactics, often with teen-age warriors. It is not a fair fight.
The American taxpayers are fully responsible, in spite of any weak excuse that we claim innocence by virtue of government and media-enforced ignorance. There is no excuse for men of logic and intellect not to know what I have seen; it is too easy to get to Gaza. All you have to do is know that you can go. Yes, you can go there if you want to. And the answers are also readily available without going any further than your Internet.
When I opened my e-mail upon returning home from Gaza yesterday, I found the following appeal from Samia; in Ramallah, a part of the Gulag, or chain of prisons in the West bank near Jerusalem. This appeal makes perfect logic; I know it is true from what I have learned about the occupied Gulag within Israel. The attack on Ramallah is confirmed in today?s Washington Post.
People in Gaza were expecting an attack on the Jabalia Refugee Camp when I was there. My host cancelled a lunch they had planned for me in the home of a resident mother there because they thought it unsafe for me. Now it is under attack. What about that mother? Though I do not know Samia, I confirmed her appeal to be true with a phone call to Gaza. The Jerusalem Post also confirmed this morning that tanks have occupied Gaza and at 7:00 AM today one was destroyed with a land mine killing three Israelis. This will bring vicious reprisals against the Palestinian population.
I am sharing Samia?s appeal and will follow up with a continuation of our own series on Gaza, sharing what I have learned. We will answer the questions that are most asked by Americans about Israel and the Arabs. Yours are welcome.
Samia writes:
March 13, 2001
We need your help... totally occupied in Ramallah, shelling and shooting, the battle of Amari has started last night. And the PNGO People are unable to get to their work. Please help circulate this Appeal, especially first to the media and then others on your list.
We are unable to reach our contact lists, so we would greatly appreciate you circulating this as widely as possible.
Sharon continues his massacre Israeli troops occupy completely Ramallah The Israeli army has entered Ramallah and has completely occupied and imposed a curfew on the whole city, the center of the Palestinian Authority and all humanitarian organizations.
The Israeli army invaded with tanks and military, under the cover of apache helicopters, and bombarding several areas of the city. The Israeli army refuses to allow all but one ambulance to move, thereby freezing medical care, leaving many injured people left untreated. Three Palestinians have been reported dead in Ramallah, and tens injured. Many buildings throughout the city have been occupied, and in many apartment blocks soldiers are forcing all families in the building into one flat, occupying the b Last night the Israeli army also invaded Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip; 18 Palestinians have been killed so far.
Over the last week, Sharon has been conducting a gradual massacre of the Palestinian people, killing approximately 160 Palestinians since the beginning of this month in aggressive attacks on Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Gaza and now Ramallah, and injuring more than 1000 people.
The Palestinian civilian population has no way of protecting itself from Sharon?s aggressive attacks. Sharon - the war criminal of Sabra and Shatila; will continue his attacks on Palestinians unless international intervention forces him otherwise. We all urgently on the international community to Intervene and provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
C. E. Carlson
We Hold These Truths (www.whtt.org)
4839 East Greenway Road, #151
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
480 047 3329
Zinni: Okay, big guy you can kiss your 3 billion plus in aid from the U.S. bye-bye. (oops I forgot Sharon has already stated that Israel controls the U.S. so I guess this would be an idle threat to him)
Interesting but not surprising that you repeat the rumor that originated on a Hamas website.
YEP..like this "baddy" here??
IDF Apologizes For Hitting Church, Damaging Virgin Mary Statue
And THIS is the Terje Larsen who is the "special" UN repesentative in the middle east. I'm sure you can relate to this honorable gent who had as many fingers in the Oslo pie as he had in other rather fishy transactions :).
Norway Daily No. 45/97
 |
 |
|
|
|
The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) levied a NOK 50,000 fine against Terje Rød-Larsen yesterday for having withheld information from the tax authorities. Due to the fact that the offence took place ten years ago and the limitation period expired yesterday, the reaction against Mr. Rød-Larsen was lighter than the gravity of the case otherwise called for. Taxation of the NOK 600,000 return on his Fideco investment as a capital gain saved Mr. Rød-Larsen NOK 386,000 in taxes. "If this took place last year, we would have prosecuted and asked the court for a jail sentence," says Chief Public Prosecutor Hans Petter Jahre. The maximum sentence for this type of offence is two years.
Terje Rød-Larsen is by no means a beaten man. At the moment, he is writing a book about the peace negotiations, the Oslo Agreement and the Middle East, and has accepted a number of assignments and board appointments at home and abroad. He declined to reveal who has engaged him or in which capacity. "I am both relieved and disappointed - relieved that Økokrim has decided not to prosecute, but disappointed that they have given me a fine," says the former Minister of National Planning.
Carl I. Hagen (Progress) reacts to the fact that even taking the fine into account, Terje Rød-Larsen has still made a clear profit on his tax evasion manoeuvre. Johan J. Jakobsen (Centre) characterizes Økokrim's conclusion as serious. Kjell Magne Bondevik (Car. Dem.) says he sees no reason to pursue the matter in the political arena now that Mr. Rød-Larsen is out of Norwegian politics. Jan Petersen (Cons.) takes the view that since Mr. Rød-Larsen resigned from the Cabinet, the tax case is a private matter.
"I am Minister of Justice, and I have not been appointed for a trial period. I am not interested in running for Vice-President of the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (LO) now," says Minister of Justice Gerd-Liv Valla. She says she appreciates declarations of support from union leaders and others who would like her to be the next Federation Vice-President, but she makes it clear that her candidacy is out of the question. She declined to speculate as to the feasibility of holding both offices at the same time.
33 major road, tunnel and bridge projects will now end up costing NOK 3 billion more than the budgets that were approved four years ago. In many cases, objections, protests and adjustments have led to substantial cost increases. The Government will be submitting a revised national road and traffic plan in a few days.
The Norwegian krone has dropped substantially. After having remained 4 to 5 per cent above its former mean value for several months, the exchange rate was almost down to normal yesterday morning. Declining oil prices are viewed as the explanation for the loss of interest in the krone.
When Terje Rød-Larsen resigned as Minister of National Planning, he belaboured the point that Norwegian journalists should learn to examine their sources more critically. With the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) now fining him NOK 50,000 for having deliberately submitted false information on his 1986 tax return, there is good reason to conclude that the news media were on reasonably safe ground. One may also conclude that Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland's assessment of the situation was correct when he chose to let Mr. Rød-Larsen go. Humanly speaking, Mr. R|d-Larsen's resentment as well as his statement that he did not deserve the treatment he had received, are understandable. Nonetheless, now that Økokrim has determined that he reduced his taxes by NOK 386,000 by submitting false information, one may call his own faculty for self-assessment into question. Nor is Mr. Rød-Larsen's position improved by the fact that in 1988, he filed serious accusations with the Directorate of Taxes against his former business associates in Bird Technology with no regard for his own misdeeds. (Aftenposten)
Don't worry. There are things they can do for that these days LOL. Don't suffer in silence.
If I were Sharon I might tell him "I'm not in your army and it's not your butt that's being shot full of holes so bug off"!
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.