International Community Watches Helplessly As Sharon Defies World Opinion

30/03/2002| IslamWeb

* Qatar, Current OIC Chairman Demands Emergency UN Security Council Session * Sharon Effectively Declares War on Arabs * Powell Warns Israel But Saves Harshest Words for Arafat · First Ramallah; Now: Beit Jala · For 'Endgame', Read article at 'In The Press'-Home Page.   _______

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Arabs and the international community continued to watch helplessly as the Butcher of Sabrra and Shatilla, once more shows total disrespect for all forms of international norms.
Israeli Amid growing international concern over Israel's latest brutal blunder in the occupied territories, the United Nations Security Council called an emergency session late on Friday at the initiative of Palestinian and Arab delegates.
Qatar, current Chairman of the Islamic Conference Organization, was at the forefront of thosed demanding an emergency UN Security Council session.
Egyptian and Palestinian officials said the Israeli attacks were a declaration of war and Arab summit host Lebanon said the move was an attack on the peace plan, which proposed "normal" Arab ties with Israel if it returned occupied Arab land and allowed the creation of a Palestinian state.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Israel had assured Washington Arafat would not be harmed or captured during the incursion into his headquarters. "The Israelis have said to me that it is not their intention to occupy any of these areas," Powell told a news conference in Washington.
Powell condemned the violence, urging Arafat to act against Resistance groups behind attacks on Israelis and saying Sharon should carefully consider the consequences of Israel's actions.
He said U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni would continue a faltering mission to seek a cease-fire.
ARAFAT REMAINS DEFIAN:
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was under siege in his presidential compound on Saturday but was still spitting defiance at Israeli occupation troops who launched an unprecedented attack on his power base.
The violence sweeping the region for the past 18 months shifted up a gear after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Arafat an enemy and ordered a tank and troop offensive against his Ramallah headquarters early on Friday.
The move, which brought widespread international condemnation, left Arafat in one of the most perilous positions of his long career and fueled speculation Sharon had started an endgame to oust his long-time foe.
It also dealt a severe setback to hopes raised by an Arab summit's endorsement this week of a Middle East peace plan.
FIRST RAMALLAH, NOW 'BEIT JALA'
Early on Saturday, an Israeli armored column entered the Palestinian town of Beit Jala, between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, exchanging fire with local Resistance men, Palestinian witnesses said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the ensuing clash. The occupation army had no immediate comment on the incursion by seven armored vehicles, including two tanks.
On Friday, Israeli occupation forces, in a hard-hitting response to a bomb which killed 22 Israelis on Wednesday, used armored bulldozers to smash their way into Arafat's West Bank headquarters and battled his security forces room-to-room.
At least six Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed in some of the fiercest fighting since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began 18 months ago. Scores of suspected militants were arrested.
The Israeli attack sparked a new spiral of violence as a woman Resistance bomber blew herself up in a Jerusalem supermarket killing two Israelis and wounding at least 20 others. It was the second bombing carried out by a Palestinian woman on a Resistance bombin mission.
Palestinians identified the bomber as Aayat Mohammed al-Akhras, 18, a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of several Palestinian Resistance groups fighting Israeli occupation.
Israeli occupation sources said 20,000 more combat reserve units had been called up as a result of Palestinian attacks.

PHOTO CAPTION:
Yehuda Lancry, Israel ambassador to the U.N., top right, looks on Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian U.N. observer, bottom, during his address to an open meeting of the Security Council on situation in the Middle East at the United Nations headquarters, Friday, March 29, 2002. (AP Photo/Osamu Honda)