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Arafat Urges 'No More War', Says Peace Possible Palestinian leader |
Current rating: 0 |
by AFP
(No verified email address) |
21 Jun 2002
Modified: 01:04:35 PM |
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He said unspecified "foreign" forces were exploiting young hopeless Palestinians and encouraging them to commit attacks in exchange for money. He said two families of suicide attackers from Jenin had received 30,000 dollars each from these foreigners. |
Yasser Arafat has pleaded for "no more war" with Israel and said he accepted a proposal made by former US president Bill Clinton as a framework for a peace deal.
"Enough is enough," Arafat told Israeli daily Haaretz, repeating a phrase used recently by US President George W. Bush. He said he supported an initiative by a number of prominent Palestinians who published an advertisement against the suicide bombings.
He said unspecified "foreign" forces were exploiting young hopeless Palestinians and encouraging them to commit attacks in exchange for money. He said two families of suicide attackers from Jenin had received 30,000 dollars each from these foreigners.
He also said his advisers were amazed that Israel has not taken steps against the radical groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, preferring to focus its military campaign against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat's Fatah faction.
The interview was the first time Arafat had declared his acceptance of the Clinton proposal.
That plan, which Arafat has repeatedly been criticized for rejecting in the past, envisions an Israeli withdrawal from much of the territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war, shared Palestinian-Israeli control of Jerusalem and land swaps that would allow 80 percent of Jewish settlers in the West Bank to remain there.
It also calls for an equitable solution for Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes in the war that followed creation of the Israeli state in 1948. It proposes that right of return be granted only to those who qualify for it on humanitarian grounds and that others receive financial compensation.
Arafat said he agreed with border corrections and territorial exchanges, and that he was proposing to accept Israeli sovereignty over, and access to, the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City.
The Palestinian leader said he believed it was possible to reach peace with hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has vowed never to negotiate with the Palestinian leader.
Arafat said he would not rule out a much-vaunted US proposal for the creation of a temporary Palestinian state but said he had not yet received any information from Washington on the idea.
He also said he had not ruled out a plan put forward by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian parliamentary chief Ahmed Qorei, which includes the declaration of a Palestinian state to be followed by negotiations on borders, Jerusalem and refugees.
During the interview, which took place at Arafat's battered headquarters compound in Ramallah, the Palestinian leader said work had already begun on reforming his security services, a key demand from Israel and the United States. He said he was ready to cooperate with Israeli security, on condition that they let him reorganize his own security services.
Copyright 2002 AFP |
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The Haaretz article's text (very similar) |
by gehrig
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
21 Jun 2002
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Friday, June 21, 2002 Tamuz 11, 5762
Arafat to Ha'aretz: I accept Clinton's plan; peace is possible
By Akiva Eldar
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat yesterday issued a call for "no more war," declaring that he accepts the proposal first made by former U.S. president Bill Clinton as a framework for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
In an interview with Ha'aretz, Arafat used the same phrase that U.S. President George W. Bush recently used - "Enough is enough" - and said he supports the initiative of Sari Nusseibeh, Hanan Ashrawi and other Palestinian intellectuals who published an advertisement against the suicide bombings. Arafat said that if given permission, he would follow in the footsteps of Jordan's late King Hussein, who made personal condolence calls on the families of victims of a shooting attack at Naharayim in 1996.
He said that "foreign" forces were exploiting young hopeless Palestinians, encouraging them to commit attacks in exchange for money, adding that two families of suicide attackers from Jenin received $30,000 each from these foreigners. He also said he had imposed a house arrest on Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza. His advisers have expressed amazement that Israel has not taken any steps against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, preferring to focus its military campaign against the Palestinian Authority and Fatah.
Yesterday's interview was the first time Arafat has declared his acceptance of the Clinton proposal. The plan does not mention the right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel. Arafat also said he supports border corrections and territorial exchanges, and that he is proposing Israeli sovereignty over, and access to, the Western Wall and the Old City's Jewish Quarter.
During the interview, which took place at Arafat's much-battered headquarters compound in Ramallah, the PA leader pointed to a document that, he said, was the security reform plans he had received from the security chiefs of Egypt and Jordan. He said the PA's new Interior Ministry has already begun implementing the reforms, having visited Cairo this week for consultations with the Egyptian security services, and he expressed readiness to cooperate with Israeli security on condition that they let him reorganize his own security services.
Arafat said he believes it is possible to reach peace with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying that Sharon was ready to dismantle Jewish settlements in the Sinai, and as foreign minister, gave his blessing to the Wye agreement that Clinton had worked out during Netanyahu's term as premier.
Arafat claimed he had yet to receive any information from the United States about a proposal for a provisional state, but that he does not rule one out. He added that he had not ruled out the Peres-Abu Ala plan, which includes the declaration of a Palestinian state to be followed by negotiations on borders, Jerusalem and refugees. Arafat said it was Sharon who said Foreign Minister Shimon Peres did not have the mandate to propose the plan, and he called the Labor Party "a fig leaf for Sharon."
According to Arafat, he would prefer to see a Benelux-like relationship between Israel and the Palestinian state with open borders. He regards himself as an elected leader, and said he has no intention of retiring.
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