The Palestinian Authority on Sunday outlawed the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which claimed to have assassinated Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi last week in retaliation for the killing of its own leader by occupation forces, reported AFP.
In a statement published in Gaza City, the Palestinian high council on national security declared as "outlaw, any group which, in the name of Abu Ali Mustafa, carried out suspect actions which harmed the supreme interest of our people and gave Israel the opportunity to intensify its repression of our people."
The armed wing of the PFLP claimed the October 17 assassination of Zeevi, who heads an Israeli far-right party, in revenge for the August slaying of their leader Abu Ali Mustafa. The armed wing had by then taken on the name Martyrs of Abu Ali Mustafa.
The council, which groups the heads of the various Palestinian security services, met Sunday night in Gaza City and was chaired by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
In the statement, the council deplored that "these suspect actions gave Israel a pretext to step up its escalation and carry out its aggressive plans against our towns, villages and refugee camps," in reference to the Israeli's army re-occupation of autonomous Palestinian sectors in several West Bank cities.
Since Zeevi's assassination last Wednesday, Israel has sent its tanks into six autonomous Palestinian towns, killing at least 24 Palestinians, in what have been among the most violent days of the year-old uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation.
The scale of these incursions is unprecedented since the Palestinian Authority was set up in 1994.
In response, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, denounced the declaration in a statement faxed to Al Jazeera satellite channel, accusing the PA of “cowardice.”
The resistance movement criticized the Palestinian leadership for outlawing the military wings of the Palestinian groups, and bowing to pressure from Israel and the US.
The Palestinian Authority has pledged to arrest those responsible for the assassination of the cabinet minister, but has already ruled out an extradition, arguing that such a move was not provided for in the accords it has with Israel and that the culprits are not under its jurisdiction.
Khader Abu Abbara, the main suspect in the assassination of Zeevi, told the UK-based Guardian newspaper that 20 of his comrades had been arrested so far.
"This group is outside the law. The police are hunting all of the group's members, and we have arrested eight of the political leaders in Gaza, three in Ramallah," an official told AFP.
ISRAEL CLAIMS NO INTEREST IN ARAFAT'S END
Israel does not want to cause the downfall of Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said in a speech in Washington late Sunday.
"We don't want him to fall. This is not our purpose," said Peres in a address before the American Jewish Congress.
"We don't have any intention to destroy their autonomy," he added. "We prefer to see life in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip flowing easily."
But the Israeli foreign minister said his country wanted the Palestinian leader to establish firm control over arms and the use of weapons in territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Peres reiterated Israel's demand for the surrender of Palestinians responsible for last week's assassination of Zeevi.
KILLING OF CHRISTIAN ATTRACTS WORLD ATTENTION
The killing of Johnny Thalgieh, a Palestinian “altar boy who hoped to become a priest,” near the Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, was the topic of a feature by the Washington Post.
He was struck in the chest Saturday by a large-caliber bullet, apparently fired from an Israeli position on a ridge a half-mile away with a clear line of sight into Manger Square.
At the Vatican, Pope John Paul II said today he had received "with deep sadness" the news of Johnny Thalgieh's death and the fighting in Bethlehem and surrounding towns. "War and death arrived even on the square of the Basilica of the Nativity of Our Lord," the pope said during his noon prayer inside St. Peter's Basilica.
"We always felt safe on Manger Square," said Johnny’s cousin, Elias, 36, a tile layer. "I always took my child there. But it's not as safe as we thought. I think the Israelis just want to kill as many people as possible. Now we feel there is no safe place - not at church, not at home and nowhere else." – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
