Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Thursday night he would take immediate steps to halt attacks on Israeli civilians after a suicide bombing in Jerusalem killed three Israelis.
"We will take immediate and required steps to put an end to these actions and those who stand behind them. We will spare no effort in doing so," Arafat said in a statement to reporters at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.
"We will continue with our efforts to make the mission of General Zinni succeed," Arafat added.
Arafat's words came shortly after U.S. President George Bush said he was "disappointed" with Arafat's response to calls for an end to attacks on Israel. "We set some strong conditions and we expect Mr. Arafat to meet those conditions," Bush said in the Oval Office.
In a related development, the State Department announced that it had begun steps earlier this week to declare the Al Aqsa Brigades — the Fatah-linked group that claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem attack — a "foreign terrorist organization." This move would authorize freezing any bank accounts in the United States and denying visas to its members.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke with Arafat by telephone, demanding he condemn the Jerusalem attack and telling him, "The time to act is now," spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Security Meeting
In response to the suicide bombing in downtown Jerusalem, Israel called off a round of truce talks with the Palestinians scheduled for Thursday evening, a senior Palestinian security official said.
Thursday's meeting would have been the third this week in a U.S.-sponsored attempt to agree a cease-fire. Israel and the Palestinians remain far apart on the timetable for a cease-fire.
The Palestinian security chief in the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub, said he was en route to the truce talks Thursday evening when he was informed by U.S. officials that his Israeli counterparts had called off the meeting.
Israel held Arafat responsible for Thursday's attack, saying "he has done nothing to rein in militants."
Bombing Attack
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in downtown Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon. At least three Israelis were reported killed and dozens injured, including seven seriously.
The bomber apparently struck at the junction of King George and Histadrut Street, near the entrance to a local coffee house, close to the scene of several suicide bombings over the past months, Army Radio said.
In a telephone call to The Associated Press, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, an armed group linked to Fatah, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
It identified the bomber as Muhammad Mashhur al-Hashayikah, 22, a resident of the West Bank village of Talooza, north of the city of Nablus.
According to media reports, the bomber had been jailed for attempting to carry out an earlier attack. But the Palestinians released him last week when Israeli troops entered Ramallah, where he was being held.
Marwan al-Barghouthi, Fatah-Tanzim leader in the West Bank, attacked General Zinni and said that the U.S. envoy is addressing security issues only.
Al-Barghouthi said: "We made it clear that any understanding or agreement and any international or regional efforts that do not lead to a full withdrawal from the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories and allow us to establish our independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and allow for the return of Palestinian refugees are doomed to failure. I think that what is happening is the responsibility of the United States."
Al-Barghuothi added that "we should move forward and form a Palestinian resistance front that groups all military factions and go ahead with this resistance and intifada." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
