US Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Palestinian President Yasser Arafat Sunday on Israel's multi-pronged assault on the West Bank, Arafat's senior advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
"Arafat asked for US President George Bush and his administration to intervene and pressure the Israelis to withdraw from Palestinian territory, to stop the occupation and to withdraw from Palestinian towns and villages," Abu Rudeina said.
The the official Saudi News Agency (SPA) reported Sunday that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received on Saturday a telephone call from Arafat.
During the conversation, “they reviewed the latest developments in the Occupied Territories in the light of the continual escalations of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people,” the agency said.
Arafat also called UN Secretary General Kofi Annan late Saturday and "asked Annan to take steps to stop the attacks on the Palestinian people and cities and to guard and push the peace process forward," Abu Rudeina said.
Arafat informed Annan of the Israeli troops fanning out into Palestinian self-rule cities and urged the convening of a UN Security Council emergency session, Rudeina said.
Twenty Palestinians have died since Israel launched its manhunt Thursday for Palestinian militants following the assassination of Israel's tourism minister, but most of the victims were civilians – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
