Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi has told a German newspaper that Israel staged the capture of a weapons ship for Palestinian fighters in order to exert pressure on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Kharazi, currently visiting Germany, said in a Die Welt interview to be published on Thursday that Israel had “itself staged” the capture of the Karine A on January 3 “in order to have a means of putting pressure on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.”
The entire arms affair was a “constructed story,” he said, adding, “The Israelis are well versed in that”.
The Karine A ship was intercepted in the Red Sea by Israeli commandos with over 50 tons of arms aboard, including Katyusha rockets, destined for delivery to the Palestinian territories.
Kharazi on Tuesday met the President of the German parliament, Wolfgang Thierse, whose Iranian counterpart Mehdi Karubi is due to visit Germany in March. (Albawaba.com)
