Israel's cabinet secretary Gidon Saar on Friday blamed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his Fateh movement for the previous day's murder of a 27-year-old settler woman in the West Bank, public radio said, cited by AFP.
"Yasser Arafat totally controls what happens on the ground, it's Fateh that committed Thursday's attack, and Yasser Arafat is the head of Fatah," Saar said.
Ekaterina Weintraub was gunned down in an ambush near the Palestinian city of Jenin. Another woman was slightly wounded in the attack.
"Yasser Arafat still hasn't given clear instructions to his men to put an end to the violence, he continues using a double language in letting the blood of settlers to flow," Saar claimed.
"Until now, Yasser Arafat has given no sign that he intends to fight terrorism," he added.
The killing happened as US Secretary of State Colin Powell was shuttling between meetings with Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in an attempt to get a US-brokered ceasefire to stick.
Powell and Sharon announced there would be a seven-day test period to see if the truce holds before moving forward with an internationally backed plan aimed at getting the two sides back to the negotiating table.
Nine Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed since the truce was agreed on June 13.
According to Haaretz, Powell met Thursday with Sharon and Arafat to set a timetable for the implementation of the recommendations of the Mitchell Commission. The paper said The US administration has accepted the prime minister's demand to set a test period in which there would have to be quiet in the territories before the cooling-off period set by the Mitchell report could begin. Powell and Sharon agreed on a week of quiet before the clock starts ticking on the cooling-off period. In Washington, Sharon had spoken of 10 days.
After the seven days of quiet, the cooling-off period of six weeks would begin - to be followed by the confidence building measures, including a settlement freeze and security steps by the Palestinians.
Powell and Sharon refused to say how long the confidence-building period would last. The Palestinians want it to run for eight weeks before the final status negotiations begin, while Israel is looking at a period of three months.
A senior diplomatic sources told the Israeli paper Thursday night after the meeting with Powell that this was "the first fruit of the very successful meeting the prime minister had in Washington with President George Bush. There will be more in the future."
Powell called for the testing period to begin as early as possible, to accelerate the implementation of the Mitchell report. He said the entire international community would be watching the situation. but that “responsibility was ultimately in the hands of the prime minister, who would have to decide if there was quiet in the territories.” "Both sides will have to decide when the cooling-off period begins," he said.
POWELL RETRACTS STATEMENT ON ACCEPTING MONITORS OF CEASEFIRE
After his meeting with Sharon, which was attended by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Powell asked to clarify his statement earlier in the day in Ramallah when he said after meeting with Arafat that "monitors" would be needed to supervise the cease-fire and the implementation of the Mitchell recommendations.
Powell said that the subject of monitors had not come up in the meeting with Arafat and he had meant that if the two sides asked to implement a monitoring mechanism in cooperation with the US, similar to the trilateral security committee, the US would have to agree to it. "We spoke about monitors who would operate with the consent of both sides and not a force that comes in from abroad. In the past, we were also against such an intervention."
Sharon said he was opposed to the posting of UN or European observers because of their "unbalanced" attitude to the conflict and that there was no need for a change in the existing mechanisms. "When there's a mortar, everyone hears it; and when a land mine goes off, everyone sees it; and if someone needs a clarification, I speak to the secretary of state several times a week."
Powell said that Arafat had promised him that he would do his utmost to end the violence and issue the appropriate instructions. He said the Mitchell report was a "single package" and it would "be activated when the violence comes to an end and we hope that happens in the coming days."
But Al Jazeera satellite channel said that Arafat refused to arrest Islamist activists accused by Israel of masterminding attacks against Israeli targets.
At a news conference with Arafat, Powell said: "There will be a need for monitors and observers to see what is happening between the two sides to prevent violence." Arafat said the force should be drawn from the United Nations, the United States, the European Community and others.
FRIDAY MEETINGS FROZEN
Al Jazeera quoted officials as saying that Powell’s separate meetings on Friday with the Palestinian and Israel leaders have been put on hold, without citing reasons.
PALESTINIANS FIRE SIX MORTAR BOMBS AFTER POWELL FORGES ACCORD
Palestinians fired six mortar bombs at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip overnight, hours after Powell forged the agreement by both sides on a timetable for ending the violence, the Israeli army was saying Friday.
Five bombs hit the Gadid settlement and one exploded at Netzarim, but they caused no casualties, the army said – Albawaba.com
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