International

Sharon rejects U.S. call to withdraw

By Kesava Menon

Manama (Bahrain) April 8. The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, today rejected, almost directly, the U.S. President, George W. Bush's call that he withdraw his military from Palestinian territory without delay. Mr. Sharon also seemed to reject the proposition that he could halt the on-going military operations in time to create more propitious circumstances for the peace mission of the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, as well as the possibility that the Israeli army would return to pre-intifada positions.

All in all, Mr. Sharon seemed to be implementing a boast, which he has uttered in the past, that he would go for further escalations once the world got used to the ones he has already carried out. Addressing the Knesset (Parliament) today, Mr. Sharon said the military operations would continue till the objective of "uprooting the infrastructure of terror'' was attained. Senior Israeli military officials have already said that they could not envisage the operations being concluded within the next few days so that a semblance of calm returns before Gen. Powell arrives in Israel. The Secretary of State has just begun his tour of North Africa and West Asia by landing in Morocco. In his address, Mr. Sharon also ruled out the possibility of the Israeli army returning to the positions they held in September 2000 before the intifada broke out. Instead of returning to those positions, which too were inside the West Bank albeit outside the areas handed over to full Palestinian control, the Israeli army would take up new "security zones''.

Given Mr. Sharon's penchant for grabbing land that does not belong to his country, it would appear that he intends to further cut the Palestinian territory into small isolated pockets. Mr. Sharon had recently told journalists how, through a policy of carefully calibrated escalation, he had managed to do what was unthinkable some time ago.

At the beginning of last year, it was inconceivable that the Israeli military would re-enter areas handed over to full Palestinian control. Today, they have virtually re-occupied the whole Palestinian territory. Now that the space factor has been accounted for, the next phase will perhaps account for the time factor with Mr. Sharon trying to ensure that the re-occupation goes on indefinitely. Mr. Sharon, who at one time said that he would ultimately make a deal with the Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat, while simultaneously using harsh words against the latter, also seems to have decided that he can dispense with soft words altogether. Today, he described Mr. Arafat as a man who would use "any despicable means'' to achieve his ends. The reason for this verbal escalation is unclear since Mr. Arafat and his people have been at the receiving end, and unable to strike a blow back, over the past few days.

Meanwhile, Israel's assault on Jenin refugee camps continued with helicopter gun-ships firing shells into the crowded localities. Israeli military spokesmen have said that the 15,000 inhabitants of the camp had been given warning to evacuate but residents speaking to CNN and other news agencies said they had not moved out of their houses for fear of being shot at. It was also not clear how Israel could claim that it was taking the utmost care to prevent civilian deaths when gun-ships were firing shells into shanties.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Vajpayee, Goh see urgent need to crush terrorism
• We share the same language of commerce: PM
• A conference call to Chennai
• Focus on HRD, Musharraf tells SAARC nations
• Colombo awaits Prabakaran's media outing
• Sharon rejects U.S. call to withdraw
• Powell to push for ceasefire
• We've received list but not evidence: Pak.
• Sculptor dead
• Four killed in bid on Afghan Minister's life
• 'Substantial' arms move by IRA
• Paris rally turns violent
• BNP Govt. to go through with Bill on media?
• Blair's rhetoric on Iraq raises hackles
• Road link to Jaffna reopened

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu