VARIOUS: INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY OVER ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DECISION TO "REMOVE " PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT

Record ID: 647327

  • Title: VARIOUS: INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY OVER ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DECISION TO "REMOVE " PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT
  • Date: 12th September 2003
  • Summary: (W4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 12, 2003) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CROWD OF PALESTINIANS OUTSIDE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT'S HEADQUARTERS (2 SHOTS) MV INTERIOR VIEWS WITH ARAFAT ATTENDING PRAYERS WIDE OF PEOPLE AT PRAYERS SMV ARAFAT AND OTHERS AT PRAYERS SCU ARAFAT SLV EXTERIOR PALESTINE HEADQUARTERS SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR, SAYING "How can you form a government when you have an Israeli decision as a sword over your neck? It's an overloaded wagon for Abu Ala (Ahmed Qurie) and this must stop. This decision must be revoked in order to give the formation of a government a chance, the road map a chance, the peace process a chance."
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK / TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / JERUSALEM / UNITED NATIONS, GENEVA
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QUBIJYW4TBRMNAJY0LXTMVMA
  • Story Text: Palestinians rally round leader Yasser Arafat after exile threat.
    Israel faced an international outcry on Friday (September 12, 2003) over its decision to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, a threat that drew tens of thousands of supporters into the streets to rally to his defence.
    Calling Arafat an obstacle to peace but under U.S.
    pressure not to exile him after two suicide bombings killed 15 Israelis on Tuesday (September 9), Israel's security cabinet vowed on Thursday "to remove" him "in a manner that will be determined separately".
    The wording left open options that could include killing Arafat, a proposal which Israeli newspapers said Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz raised but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shot down, or expelling him from the Palestinian territories.
    Sources close to the government said it had asked the army to refresh plans to exile Arafat, but not immediately.
    After the Israeli decision, thousands of Palestinians flocked to Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Israeli blockades have kept him confined for the past 21 months, and pledged to defend him with their lives.
    A White House official, who asked not to be named, said exiling Arafat would only "give him an international stage on which he would continue to be an obstacle to peace".
    After Israel's decision, Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurie suspended efforts to form a cabinet. He was to take over from Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who quit a week ago accusing Arafat and Israel of undermining him.
    Referring to the latest developments and the lack of a new Palestinian government, Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said, "How can you form a government when you have an Israeli decision as a sword over your neck? It's an overloaded wagon for Abu Ala (Ahmed Qurie) and this must stop. This decision must be revoked in order to give the formation of a government a chance, the road map a chance, the peace process a chance."
    Sharon has been under pressure from many members of his right-wing cabinet to banish Arafat. Their calls grew louder after this week's suicide attacks.
    Taking action against him could also help boost Sharon's popularity among Israelis, who an opinion poll showed on Friday have grown dissatisfied with his handling of security matters and largely favour either killing Arafat or expelling him.
    Israel and the United States have accused Arafat, 74, of fomenting bloodshed during the three-year-old uprising for statehood and of working against a U.S.-backed peace
    "road map" battered by recent tit-for-tat violence. He denies the charge.
    During talks with the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said, "This decision is a decision in principle because Arafat constitutes an obstacle to progress in the agreement."
    Kurtzer said, "The United States has been absolutely firm in supporting Israel's right of self defence, and has stood by Israel's side during these very difficult times, and that remains the case, President Bush (U.S. President George W Bush) reaffirmed this the other day in his words, he talked about the absolute necessity of combating terrorism."
    "Our (United States) approach has not changed, we still want to see the president's vision of June 24, 2002 realised, and in order to do that we want to see an empowered credible Palestinian leadership emerge and we want to see a Palestinian commitment and actions against the terrorist infrastructure," added Kurtzer. U.N.
    Secretary General Kofi Annan said at the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva,
    "It would be unwise to expel him (Arafat)."
    Other international reactions included the European Union which said expelling Arafat would be a "terrible mistake" and the 15-nation bloc would maintain its contacts with him.
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