As thousands of Hamas supporters were still on Thursday guarding the house of their spiritual leader, Ahmad Yassin, in Gaza, the click was ticking for Arafat who has to meet an ultimatum by Israel to crack down on Islamists-seen-as-heroes.
The US was also tough on Arafat, pressuring him to get tougher on Islamic groups behind fatal attacks on Israeli civilians, Jewish settlers and soldiers in the Occupied Territories.
US envoy to the Middle East Anthony Zinni is to meet Thursday with Arafat, amid unprecendented American pressure on the Palestinian Authority to carry out a swift and substantive crack-down on militants in areas under his control, said the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz.
The envoy spoke by phone Tuesday night with Arafat, and the two met later in Jerusalem. Also present at Tuesday's meeting were US Consul-General in Jerusalem Ron Schlicher and US State Department spokesman Aaron Miller, said Haaretz.
“During the meeting, the American delegation made it clear to Arafat that he must take action immediately against terrorist organizations, and that he would be judged according to his actions. The Americans also told him that they did not want to see any more suicide bombings, bus bombings or shooting attacks.”
According to AFP, the situation Arafat is in is one of his toughest choices in decades Thursday, after Israel gave him 24 hours to round up top Islamic militants seen as heroes by his people, or face renewed bombing that could destroy his self-rule administration.
Late Wednesday, Arafat opted for a face-down with Islamic radicals, led by the powerful Hamas movement, ordering his police to put Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin under house arrest.
But the operation bogged down in an armed stand-off with thousands of Hamas supporters.
The stand-off came amid a whirlwind of US and Egyptian diplomatic efforts to ward off a full-blown confrontation between the Palestinians and Israel, after Israel launched air strikes earlier this week in retaliation for lethal suicide bombings by Hamas.
In a move underlining the urgency of the situation, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher arrived in Israel for talks later Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
For his part, Arafat was due to meet US peace envoy Anthony Zinni in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Maher will also meet Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah later Thursday, Israeli radio reported, but there was no immediate Palestinian confirmation.
Arafat ordered the house arrest of Yassin, a disabled 63-year-old, on Wednesday after Israel gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to show he was serious about pledges to arrest activists or face further devastating air strikes.
Palestinian security officials told AFP Thursday they had arrested around 180 Islamic militants since Arafat declared a state of emergency Sunday, giving police sweeping powers to arrest members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Some 50 have been nabbed since Israel delivered its ultimatum.
However Israel, which branded his authority an "entity which supports terrorism," denounced the measures as insufficient.
"For the moment, Yasser Arafat has done nothing, not even five percent effort; these arrests are basically a smokescreen," foreign ministry spokesman Noam Katz told AFP.
Israel has said the arrests have failed to net any real "terrorist" behind the deadly attacks against Israeli targets, labeling the round-up as a show for the media.
At 11:00 pm (2100 GMT) Wednesday Palestinian police, acting on Arafat's orders, approached Yassin's home but were driven back by armed Hamas militants and supporters as a crowd of up to 2,000 gathered outside his house -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
