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GAO probes Israel's use of F-16s

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, June 15, 2001

WASHINGTON Ñ The watchdog agency of Congress has launched an investigation of Israel's use of F-16 warplanes against the Palestinian Authority.

The General Accounting Office seeks to determine whether Israeli F-16 strikes against PA targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip constitute a violation of U.S. law. The probe follows a complaint by a House member and Arab-American leaders.

Rep. John Conyers Jr. a Democrat from Michigan, has questioned whether the F-16 attack violated the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, Middle East Newsline reported. The law limits the use of U.S. weapons to "legitimate self-defense."

"It appears on the face of numerous international reports that attacks on Palestinian Authority Headquarters and regional police stations fall outside these terms," Conyers wrote in a letter to President George Bush.

Last month, a Bush administration official told Arab-American leaders that the use of U.S.-made arms by Israel against the Palestinians would be investigated. But other officials said the White House has kept these efforts low-profile.

The Arab American Institute sent a letter of complaint to Secretary of State Colin Powell and members of the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee regarding the Israeli use of U.S. weapons in the more than eight-month-old conflict with the Palestinians.

"The facts are not hidden," the letter said. "Israel admits its use of Apache and Cobra helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, TOW missiles and now Flechette rounds, against Palestinians."

Israeli diplomats in Washington said the F-16 strikes were against centers of terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They said among the targets were factories that produced mortar rounds for Palestinian use.

The GAO findings are regarded as recommendations that are not binding on the administration.

Friday, June 15, 2001



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