International
Israel `grounds' Yasser Arafat
JERUSALEM, DEC. 10. The Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat, has dropped plans to travel abroad, fearing Israel would not permit him to return to the West Bank, Palestinian officials said, and Israel's security Cabinet reportedly approved more military strikes against Palestinian targets.
Mr. Arafat, who was scheduled to leave overnight for this week's gathering of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is under mounting criticism from U.S. leaders for failing to rein in Palestinian militants who have carried out a string of bombing and shooting attacks on Israelis. The U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, said the attacks were ``destroying (Arafat's) authority and credibility,'' while the U.S. Vice-President, Mr. Dick Cheney, said ``until Arafat demonstrates that he is serious about suicide attackers, there won't be progress.''
The United States and Israel have demanded that Mr. Arafat do more to stop terrorists; he says he is already cracking down on them and that 180 have been arrested. American diplomatic efforts hit a rough patch on Sunday as the U.S. envoy, Gen. Anthony Zinni, told Israeli and Palestinian security officials that if they didn't make real progress in the next 48 hours, he would consider leaving the region, Israeli and Palestinian officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the wake of the Dec. 2 attack and a triple bombing in Jerusalem the night before which killed 11 teen-agers, Israel struck Palestinian police and security installations, destroyed Mr. Arafat's three helicopters in a hangar near his Gaza Strip and tore up the landing strip at Gaza's airport.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the raid on Mr. Arafat's aircraft was understood to mean that the Palestinians should not ask Israel for clearance for Mr. Arafat to leave the country. Another official said the problem lay not in Mr. Arafat leaving the country but in the risk that the Israelis would not allow him to return, effectively banishing him from Palestinian territory. While the Palestinian Authority has functional autonomy in the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank, Israel controls its airspace and the international borders.
- AP
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