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Palestinian Official Reject Israeli Threat of Force
Palestinian officials Saturday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's threats to halt the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and to stop the violence by force in the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's adviser Nabil Abu Rdaineh accused Barak of putting the heat on the Palestinian leadership.
Palestinian Minister of Culture and Information Yasser Abed Rabbo also said that Barak knows very well that the Palestinians will not yield to such threats and if the peace process is dead, it is Barak who killed it.
In a nationally televised address Saturday afternoon, Barak asked Arafat to stop the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip within 48 hours.
"If we do not see a change in the patterns of violence in the next two days, we will see this as the cessation of the peace talks by Arafat ... and will instruct the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and security troops to use all means at their disposal to stop the violence," Barak said.
The latest wave of clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli forces were triggered by Israeli opposition Likud leader Ariel Sharon's visit to a disputed Jerusalem shrine on September 28.
The bloody confrontations, the worst in four years, have claimed 80 lives and injured nearly 2,000 others, mostly Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
Barak voiced the threats after three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped Saturday by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Abed Rabbo said that Barak and Sharon collaborated in the provocative visit to the Jerusalem holy site revered by both Jews and Muslims. Sovereignty dispute over the site is the chief obstacle to a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal.
He added that through the "provocative move," Barak paved the way for freezing the peace process and for forming a national unity government that will include the right-wing Likud party.
He also said that Arafat has received a telephone call from U.S.President Bill Clinton and the two leaders agreed to further consultations on the formation of an international inquiry commission and ways of stoping the violence.
The dispute over the makeup of the commission to investigate the violence in the palestinian territories is the deal-breaker at the Paris summit between Barak, Arafat and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Clinton also assured Arafat that Washington will do what it can to safeguard the peace process.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar also called Arafat Saturday and exchanged views with the Palestinian leader over the current situation.
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