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Saint-Gaudens

Sharon takes aim at key Arafat aides

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Monday, March 26, 2001

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has formulated a plan that aims to target key aides of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat after this week's Arab League summit.

The plan calls for Israeli restraint against the Palestinian mini-war until the summit ends, probably after the weekend. Then, Israel's military would begin a policy of targeting key aides and commanders of Arafat believed behind the attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

One likely target of the Israeli effort is Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, a key figure in the violence in the West Bank amid the six-month-old mini-war. On Saturday, Israeli troops captured a Fatah commander in the Hebron area.

On early Sunday, Palestinians fired four anti-tank shells toward an Israeli military position in the Gaza Strip. Nobody was reported injured. The shooting came hours after Palestinians were wounded in what was termed as peaceful marches by women and intellectuals aligned with the PA in the West Bank.

The Arab League summit is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Amman. Preparations for the summit comes as the Palestinians have escalated attacks against Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Israeli plan does not involve attacking Arafat himself, sources said.

Instead, it would seek to strike the organizers of the mini-war in the PA as well as in the ruling Fatah movement while ensuring the well-being of the Palestinian community.

The plan would be overseen by Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz. The government plans to extend Mofaz's term for another year.

Israeli sources said Sharon is convinced that President George Bush has written off Arafat as a U.S. ally and a partner for peace in the Middle East. The prime minister is said to believe that Bush does not regard Arafat as any different from such figures as deposed Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Bush aides, particularly Secretary of State Colin Powell, have concluded that the Palestinian leadership plans to continue the mini-war even as Arafat expresses his desire for renewed negotiations with Israel. Israeli sources said the administration has agreed to isolate Arafat until he ends the mini-war.

Monday, March 26, 2001


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