Palestinian President Yasser Arafat “almost certainly” personally approved the attempt to smuggle over 50 tons of weaponry on the ship that was captured by Israel commando in the Red Sea on Thursday, according to Israeli intelligence sources.
Tel Aviv based Haaretz daily reports that sources said the arms had cost the Palestinians 15 million dollars, and an additional $400,000 for the ship itself. Such an expensive deal, according to Israel, points at the fact that it was probably Arafat himself who approved the deal, since he was the only one to endorse exceptional expenses when needed.
The sources added that Arafat's personal consent would also have been needed for the contacts with Iran, which Israel believes, supplied the weapons. The arms were stored in waterproof containers made in Iran that would have enabled them to float at sea off the Gaza coast for a long period of time without damage, until they could be picked up by Palestinian naval police, disguised as fishermen, according to Israeli sources.
Karine A, the ship carrying the weapons, was captured in the Red Sea on Thursday by Israeli Navy and Air Force. Israeli intelligence forces took part in the operation as well. According to Israeli sources, this was the largest attempt to smuggle weaponry to the Palestinian Authority to be intercepted by Israel.
Israel Accuses Palestinian Officials
Israel Army Chief of Staff, Saul Mofaz, announced the ship’s capture at a press conference on Friday. He stated that the ship was carrying approximately 50 tons of weaponry and ammunition, including long range Katyusha rockets, rifles, mortar shells, mines and anti-tank missiles. The Katyushas could reach major cities throughout Israel as well as Israel’s International Airport, if sent from the Palestinian Authority territory.
Mofaz added that the connection between the Palestinian Authority and the smuggling operation is “clear and undeniable.” The 4,000-ton "Karine A" had been purchased and was owned by the Palestinian Authority, he said.
Mofaz claimed that “Official figures in the Palestinian Authority were involved, among them senior officials in the Palestinian Naval Police”. According to him, the ship’s captain was a Palestinian Naval Police Officer.
According to reports, a Hezbollah member was on the ship as well. The Lebanese Resistance Movement has not yet released a comment on the issue, according to Kuwait News Agency.
Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer also said that senior Palestinian officials were directly involved in the attempt. “It is difficult to imagine the injury that would have been caused to human life had it not been for this capture," Ben-Eliezer said over the weekend.
Palestinian Denial
The Palestinian Authority, on its part, has denied any connection to the ship. President Arafat himself has refuted any link whatsoever to the seized ship. The Palestinians consider the Israeli allegations as “propaganda.”
Palestinian Culture and Information Minister, Yasser Abd Rabbu referred to Israel’s accusations and emphasized that Israel is trying to disturb U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni’s mission to the region by “diverting” attention from Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. Rabbu said “it is clear that the Israelis picked Zinni’s arrival to announce on the ship and to continue aggression and seige on the Palestinian occupied territories”.
Interrogation of Crew
Israel Army sources said last night that based on their initial interrogation of the ship's crew, the person in charge of purchasing both the ship and the arms had been Adal Mugrabi, Head of the Palestinian Authority’s arms procurement department. According to the sources, Mugrabi had reported directly to Fathi Razam, the deputy commander of the Palestinian Authority’s naval police. Both Razam and the commander of the naval police, Juma Ghali, according to the sources, had been involved in the contacts with Iran and Hezbollah, which aided in the smuggling operation.
Fuad Shubaki, nicknamed "finance minister" of the Palestinian Authority, had arranged financing for the deal, Israeli sources told the local press. They stated that the ship had sailed to the Iranian owned island of Kish, located in the Arabian Gulf, in December 2001. There the arms had been loaded to the ship.
Iranian Comments
Iran has denied any involvement in this incident. Soon after the ship’s capture, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres asked of the International community to label Iran as a “terrorist country”, according to KUNA.
Meanwhile, Israeli radio reported that the Foreign Ministry ordered all its embassies abroad to explain that Iran is behind the shipment and is a “terrorist state”, aimed at destroying Israel. According to the report, the Foreign Ministry considered the smuggling attempt part of the Palestinian continuation of “terrorism and violence”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi dismissed charges of the “Zionist circles” statements that Iran had shipped the arms to Palestine. He called them a “sheer lie”. Asefi added that the “Zionist circles were apparently concerned about the situational developments in Palestine and the consequences of the Intifada, which is threatening their existence as the main cause of tension...in the region.”
Asefi added that the Zionists are trying to create a platform for further suppression of the Palestinian people. He emphasized that the Zionists were concerned over the support the Palestinians were given from the Muslim world, therefore they embarked such “propaganda” in order for the world to ease pressures on them to honor the basic rights of the Palestinians.
Asefi warned against the recent propaganda campaign and mentioned that these “baseless” claims are aimed at ruining the image of the Intifada. He called upon the International community to put an end to “inhumane” measures the Zionists were using and to their suppression of the Palestinian people. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
