Isolate Israel, Arafat urges OIC

DOHA (QATAR), MAY 26. The Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, on Saturday made an emotional appeal to Muslim states to isolate Israel, which he accused of using depleted uranium weapons and poison gas against Palestinians in eight months of violence. But Mr. Arafat, addressing an emergency meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the 56-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Qatar, also made a fresh call for a resumption of peace talks with the Jewish state.

``There are the monstrous massacres against our unarmed people carried out by missiles and bombs from F-16 warplanes, Apache helicopters, tanks and artillery,'' he told the one-day meeting, which was called at his request. ``Their missiles and internationally prohibited bombs, including depleted uranium, poison gases, and radioactive material used against our Palestinian people...,'' Mr. Arafat said. The Emir of Qatar, hosting the talks, opened the meeting by urging the OIC to take practical steps against Israel, not traditional statements of condemnation ``which are no longer sufficient''.

Mr. Arafat told the Ministers ``the danger... is grave... it cannot be stopped by statements of denunciation, condemnation and censure. There is no way but to take a firm stand that puts aggression and the aggressors in shackles...'' The Palestinians are asking OIC members to freeze ties with Israel until it stops attacks on Palestinians, in line with action taken by the Arab League last week. Mr. Arafat also wants the OIC, the world's largest Muslim organisation, to provide strong moral and financial backing for the intifada, or uprising, and to lobby the United States and other big powers to press Israel to return to peace negotiations, delegates said.

Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, appealed to the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, to force Israel to stop the fighting, in which more than 560 people, mainly Palestinians, have been killed since the uprising against Israeli occupation erupted last September. ``It is necessary (for Bush) to intervene immediately to put an end to this worsening situation, it is no longer acceptable to remain silent. (Bush has) to pressure the Israeli Government to force it to stop its aggression and return unconditionally to the basis of the peace process...,'' he said.

The Emir also demanded that an OIC team visit the United Nations and world powers to push for a U.N. protection force for the Palestinians - an idea raised by the group at a summit in Doha in November but rejected by Israel.

The Palestinian Minister for International Cooperation, Mr. Nabil Shaath, said before the meeting: ``We are demanding resolutions that can be implemented. We have to enforce the isolation of the Government of (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon, which is launching a dirty, crazy war on the Palestinian people.'' Mr. Shaath said OIC members should follow the Arab League's lead and freeze all political contacts with Israel until it halts attacks on Palestinians and ``abides by a real initiative for peace built on the Mitchell report and the Jordanian-Egyptian proposal''.

The Arab League, whose 22 members also belong to the OIC, called last week in Cairo for a freeze on political contacts with Israel but stopped short of breaking diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, in Washington, Arab-American community leaders have been told by White House officials that Israel's use of U.S.-made weapons was ``under serious investigation,'' the Arab American Institute said.

- Reuters

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