In an indirect appeal to Israel, UN Secretary General Kofi Anan urged an end to the “virtual house arrest” imposed on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as a first step toward ending Middle East violence, AP reported. Anan arrived in Vienna for discussions with Austrian leaders and meetings with officials at the United Nations offices in the Austrian capital.
Arafat is “being asked to stop the violence... to lead,” he told reporters. Nevertheless, the Palestinian leader and aides “are so much under pressure that I really don't see how he can deliver what the international community wants him to do.”
Anan suggested that no peace initiatives could be expected from the Palestinians when their leader “is weakened to the point of impotence.” Israel has confined Arafat to the West Bank city of Ramallah since December.
Anan said the international community ought to work together “to influence the situation on the ground,” to get Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization to renew talks. “I don't think we can move forward by focusing only on security,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday accused Israel of practicing "state terrorism" against Palestinians in its effort to repeal their Intifada against the Jewish state.
At a conference of Arab interior ministers in Beirut concentrating on counter-terrorism efforts, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef said Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes was a form of terror and had to be recognised as such.
"We follow with great unease the inhumane acts and state terrorism that Israel practises against the defenceless Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories through war machines that make orphans of children...and destroy homes," he said in a speech. "We call on every living conscience, every just and reasonable person, to stand up for what is right and call things by their names, and define terrorism clearly and precisely before all."
These comments came hours after Israeli troops raided a Palestinian village in the West Bank and arrested three activists, following a surge of violence including two Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and Israeli air strikes.
Prince Nayef also warned against branding resistance to Israel as terrorism, in an apparent reference to Palestinian groups and Lebanon's Islamic Resistance Party Hizbollah.
Security Plan
Following the recent Palestinian attacks in downtown Jerusalem, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved Tuesday plans for increasing security, presented to him by the Israeli National Security Council Major General Uzi Dayan.
Sharon said he considered the plan, known as "enveloping Jerusalem," to be "an essential element in securing Jerusalem," and ordered the necessary changes to the plan be made and presented soon before the security cabinet for budget approval.
However, police sources Tuesday expressed skepticism that the government would agree to fund the plan. "These plans come up for discussion after every wave of attacks, but in practice nothing happens," said one senior police officer.
The plan was intially presented to the cabinet some time ago, but had not received serious attention, both for budgetary and for political reasons.
Implementation of the plan would prove very costly, and has garnered opposition from Israeli radical politicians.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the plan would limit Palestinian entry into Jerusalem. The plan also calls for the construction of an 11-kilometer wall along the seam line between East and West Jerusalem; the establishment of roadblocks between the eastern and western parts of the city; the installation of video cameras along the seam line; the creation of five Border Police units to patrol the seam line and the introduction of new identification technologies such as thermal sensors and night-vision equipment. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
