A 40-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed Friday by Israeli soldiers in the Tulkarem refugee camp, Palestinian medical sources said. According to reports, soldiers shot Husni Damiri while he was standing in the entrance to his house, at the time a curfew was in place. An Israeli spokesman said that troops opened fire at an armed Palestinian after they themselves came under fire.
In the nearby town of Qalqiliya, Israeli troops detained a senior Hamas activist, who was involved in planning bomb attacks, Israel Radio said. Israeli soldiers also found a belt rigged with crude explosives, the type that suicide bombers commonly strap to their bodies, the Israeli army said.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official on Friday accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of trying to sabotage Palestinian talks with U.S. officials by branding the Palestinian Authority a "terror gang" in a speech delivered Thursday night.
Palestinian Cabinet Secretary, Ahmed Abdel Rahman said Sharon's speech was timed to interfere with the Palestinian delegation's visit to Washington. "He wanted to warn the Americans against reaching any agreement with the Palestinian delegation by describing Palestinian Authority officials as people (who are) against peace," Abdel Rahman said.
"If we are like that, why are we in the States now exerting every possible effort to reach a way out?"
Sharon declared in his speech that he would not negotiate with the Palestinian leadership and added Palestinian leaders would have to be removed before there could be an end to fighting that has lasted nearly two years.
"Between us and the goal is the terror gang, the terror and the corruption of the Palestinian Authority," Sharon said. "This gang does not want peace with Israel.
"The only way to peace is to remove this murderous gang from its political position," Sharon said. According to AP, Palestinians said that Sharon is not serious about peace talks, and is seeking to undermine Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
