CIA Director George Tenet met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday evening, beginning his Mideast mission in which he wants assurances Yasser Arafat will revamp the Palestinian security forces.
Sharon has repeatedly said he does not believe the Palestinian reforms will be serious as long as Arafat leads the Palestinian Authority, and had been expected to deliver that message to Tenet.
Tenet, who arrived Monday, met with Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer before going to see Sharon, Israel Radio reported. The CIA chief was to meet with Arafat on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops raided the Ain Beit el Maa refugee camp near Nablus, rounding up about 400 men and taking them away for questioning — the fourth straight day troops have searched for Palestinian activists in that part of the northern West Bank, AP reported.
Israel said its forces arrested a senior Hamas operative in Nablus Monday. The activist, Said Basharat, 24, of the nearby village of Tamoun, was a key figure in Hamas in the northern West Bank, Israeli media reports maintained. (Albawaba.com)
