Arafat on an Arab Tour Ahead of U.S. Peace Mission

17/05/2001| IslamWeb

RIYADH (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat briefed Saudi and Egyptian leaders on Sunday about the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence on the eve of the arrival in the region of a new U.S. peacemaking mission.
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, in remarks in Riyadh reported by the official Saudi Press Agency, condemned ``the assassination operations carried out against Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces.'' He said these confirmed that ``the Israeli side does not desire peace.''
Arafat was accompanied by his adviser Nabil Abu Rdainah and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on a brief regional tour that was also to take him to Jordan. He regularly holds talks with Saudi and Egyptian leaders.
In Cairo, Arafat said he told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about the latest developments ``particularly before the arrival of the American envoys'' and ``in light of the continued attacks carried out by (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon with the intention of causing a military escalation.''
Former U.S. Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns are due in the region on Monday in an effort to end 14 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Their trip is part of a new drive for peace announced last week by Secretary of State Colin Powell.
In the latest violence, Israeli forces launched missile strikes in the Gaza Strip and killed a young Palestinian in the West Bank on Sunday following a Palestinian mortar attack that killed an Israeli soldier near a Jewish settlement in Gaza.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said it fired the mortar bombs to avenge the death of senior Hamas member Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, who was killed on Friday with two other Palestinians when their car was hit by an Israeli rocket.
``With the visit of the two U.S. envoys approaching, Israel is intent on challenging U.S. policy, which aims to calm the situation and prepare the way for resuming negotiations,'' Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said. (Read photo caption)
``With consecutive criminal acts in the last three days... Israel is preparing the way by increasing the tension,'' he told reporters after the Arafat-Mubarak meeting.
Egypt, a regional political heavyweight and a staunch Arab ally of the United States, signed the first Arab peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Mubarak regularly consults European, U.S. and Middle Eastern leaders about the regional situation.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, right, talks to Ahmed Maher, Egyptian foreign minister, during their meeting in Cairo, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2001. (AP Photo/Mohammed Rawas)
- Nov 25 6:51 PM ET