The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Thursday threatened the lives of Palestinian Authority security chiefs if they continue to detain their members, after the arrest of the group's leader, Ahmed Saadat.
"We warn the Palestinian Authority's security leaders, especially Tawfiq al-Tirawi, head of West Bank intelligence, and Ramallah police chief Mohammed Saleh, to stop arresting our members and leaders, otherwise our hand will reach them whatever guards they may have," the group said in a statement.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Wednesday during an interview to the Israeli Channel Two Television's news program that Saadat had been arrested in the hope that he would be able to give the Palestinian Authority information on the killers of Israel’s Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
"We want him to hand over Ze'evi's killers," Arafat said. The PFLP took responsibility for the murder of Ze'evi in a Jerusalem hotel last October, saying it was retaliation for the killing by Israel of its leader Abu Ali Mustafa. The Palestinian leader disclosed that the arrest of Ahmed Sa'adat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, had taken place on Tuesday because Palestinian security services had previously been unable to locate him. "When I came to Israel secretly several times in 1967, could you find me?" he asked.
Arafat Le Figaro Interview
Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat said that Israel wants to kill "all Palestinian leaders" and accused Israeli Prime Minister Sharon of seeking “conflict” rather than “resolution” to the Middle East crisis, according to AFP.
"This is a systematic tactic," Arafat told Le Figaro on Thursday, from his Ramallah Presidential headquarters in the West Bank. "The Israelis want to kill all Palestinian leaders, one after another."
Arafat added that the Palestinian Authority was making an effort and jailing Palestinian activists, but Sharon was not playing a fair game. "Our problem with Sharon is that in reality he does not want a (peace) accord. He prefers conflict so he blocks everything," Arafat stated.
"The Israelis do nothing to reduce the tension. What right do they have to keep me from leaving Ramallah? And look how they treat the Palestinian population," he conveyed. "This is not the way to create an atmosphere favorable to the resumption of negotiations," he added.
In the interview, he also criticized Washington: "The Israelis chose force, America doesn't listen." "Why doesn't the European Union attempt to take over? In acting or on the other hand choosing to abstain, Europe is playing with her reputation," he said.
Palestinian - Israeli Security Talks
On Thursday afternoon, Palestinian and Israeli security officials met in the Nablus area in order to discuss measures to ease Israeli restrictions on local residents while maintaining the closure around the city, according to Israel’s Army Radio.
Meanwhile, occupation troops have withdrawn from Palestinian Authority-controlled territory in the village of A-Tel, southwest of the West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli forces have redeployed on a new outpost on a nearby hill under Israeli security control.
Israeli forces snatched a Palestinian intelligence officer in the Aaida refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Palestinian sources have identified the officer as Ali Darwish.
Earlier, Israeli occupation troops killed a Palestinian gunman near Nablus. The Palestinian sources identified the man as Hamid Ahmed Ali Abdullah, aged 42, a prominent activist of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
Also on Thursday, shots were fired on an Israeli vehicle near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, according to Israel Radio. One of the passengers opened fire in the direction of the attackers. No injuries were reported. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
