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Arab states refusing to implement defense pacts with Palestinians

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Thursday, August 9, 2001

GAZA Ñ The Palestinian Authority is getting no help from Arab nations with which it has signed mutual defense pacts, officials said.

They said the Arab countries have refused to implement the agreements during the 10-month-old war with Israel.

PA International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath acknowledged the Palestinian defense accords with unnamed Arab states during a news conference on Tuesday. Shaath did not name the countries, but PA sources said they include Egypt and Iraq.

Under a 1993 agreement with Israel, the PA was banned from signing defense treaties with any foreign power.

Iraq has agreed to send weapons and supplies but the only routes are through Jordan and Syria. On Monday, the son of Iraqi President Uday Hussein called for the shipment of automatic weapons and mortars to the PA.

"We have to find a way, whether legal or not, for light arms and mortars to reach those who need them in the occupied territories," Uday said.

Shaath said the PA is demanding that the Arab countries that signed the defense accords come to the aid of the Palestinians. He acknowledged that so far this has not happened.

Officials said PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has focused his efforts on Egypt. They said Arafat has urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to sever ties with Israel.

Instead, Egypt appears to have increased coordination with Israel in stopping weapons and combatants from moving from the Sinai into the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian blew himself up at an Israeli military roadblock in the Jordan Valley. An Israeli soldier was hurt. Earlier, two Palestinians and an Israeli were killed in various Palestinian attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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