Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks with his counterpart Hosni Mubarak on the consequences of the US strikes against Afghanistan, as five Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip and northern Israel.
Israeli Settlers, PA Police Kill Five Palestinians
Israeli soldiers and settlers shot dead a Palestinian near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip, while the other Palestinian was killed in the north, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, two other Palestinians were shot dead by Palestinian security forces in the Gaza Strip as anti-US riots turned into a gun battle and were quelled by authorities.
Citing unnamed witnesses, AFP said that two civilians, aged 13 and 21, were cut down by police gunfire as masked men hiding among a crowd of hundreds of protesting university students fired on police. Police said it was the gunmen who killed the two.
The agency added that ten police officers and 30 civilians were injured in the clashes, while 30 other people were hurt, either by bullets, stones, police beatings or tear gas inhalation.
The masked gunmen shot at police with Kalashnikov assault rifles, sparking heated exchanges of fire in the streets as the violence spilled over from the confines of the university area in the heart of Gaza City.
Police ordered the city's Islamic and Al Azhar universities to be closed until further notice.
Arafat Warns Ceasefire Violators
Later on Monday, Arafat, during his visit to Cairo, warned that all violators of a ceasefire agreed upon by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel would be arrested.
"Any person who violates Palestinian decisions will be arrested, whether it be someone important or just anybody," Arafat told reporters after talks with Arab League chief Amr Moussa in the Egyptian capital.
The PA on Sunday arrested four militants of the Islamic radical movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, following appeals for them to respect the ceasefire for the sake of the Palestinian cause.
"A decision taken by the Palestinian presidency must be respected. Anyone who violates the decision will be brought to account," he was as saying quoted by AFP.
PA Rejects Bin Laden’s Pro-Terror Comments
On Monday, the PA rejected a statement by Osama bin Laden praising the terrorist attacks in the US as a Muslim act on behalf of "the oppressed Palestinians."
The official Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA) said the PA "rejected attempts by Osama bin Laden to link...the Palestinian cause and the September 11 terror attacks in the US."
Bin Laden, in a videotaped statement released on Sunday on Al Jazeera satellite channel, hailed the September 11 attacks and warned that the US would not live in peace unless the Palestinians also enjoyed peace.
Bin Laden, who appeared along with Ayman Al Zawahri, the chief of Egypt's Islamic Jihad militant group, and the leading Islamic activist Ayman Abu Gheith, said, "Humiliation tasted by America after the September events was similar to the humiliation which we have tasted for decades."
He said that the September 11 attacks were launched in support of the Palestinian uprising and the people of Iraq.
But Palestinian Minister of Information Yasser Abd Rabbo said in a statement to Radio Palestine that bin Laden's remarks were unacceptable and that "we do not want mistakes to be perpetrated in the name of Palestine.
"It is true that there is Israeli oppression, terrorism, killing in Palestine daily, but this doesn't justify or give a cover for anybody to kill or terrorize civilians in Washington and New York or any other place," he said.
According to KUNA, Palestinian political circles say the PA has been very cautious and has refused to make any statements about the US strikes on Afghanistan to avoid negative reactions from either the US or the Muslim world.
Meanwhile, the PA has started a campaign to arrest some Islamist activists whose names were included in an Israeli wanted list handed over to the Palestinians.
Al Jazeera reported that four Palestinians were injured on Monday in clashes with PA police, who were trying to quell a pro-bin Laden demonstration staged by Hamas – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
