Powell calls Arafat in attempt to curb acts of violence against Israel

Posted 3:59PM on Wednesday 23rd January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

WASHINGTON - With the Islamic militant group Hamas threatening to unleash "all-out war," Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Yasser Arafat Wednesday to urge him to curb attacks on Israel. The fighting has sidetracked mediation efforts by Anthony Zinni, a former Marine general who has made two unsuccessful attempts to restore a cease-fire and had been expected to try again. Zinni remains on hold in Washington, and State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there is no change in his situation. "We haven't seen the sustained and full action that we believe is necessary," Boucher said of Arafat. "We continue to believe he can do more to stop the violence." White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, meanwhile, affirmed that the United States will remain deeply involved in events in the Middle East. "The events in the Middle East are unique. They are not like any events anywhere else in the world," Fleischer said. The White House official said Zinni's effort was derailed by an attempt to smuggle weapons to the Palestinians, which Israel aborted by capturing the ship carrying the arms in the Red Sea. Fleischer said the Palestinian Authority had paid for the arms. This, he said, "has immensely complicated the prospects for getting a return to the peace in the Middle East." A senior U.S. official said if Arafat stopped Palestinian attacks there would be no provocation for Israel to retaliate. As for Israel's strategy of targeting terror suspects for execution, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said if Arafat arrested them and dismantled terrorist cells Israeli would not have to go after the suspects. In the past, the State Department has criticized Israel for taking measures seen as provocative. But on Wednesday, the Bush administration again came down hard on Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. Zinni will return to the region when his mediation can be useful and productive, the official said, adding that if Arafat complied with U.S. demands for stronger action, the administration would work with him. Hamas leveled its threat on the West Bank in response to the killing of four members of its military wing, Izzedine al Qassam. Israel, in turn, said it would respond to a shooting spree by a Palestinian gunman who killed two women and wounded 14 bystanders in downtown Jerusalem on Tuesday.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/203274