World Tribune.com

Banner 10000016

Palestinians fire rockets into Gaza during Cheney visit

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Tuesday, March 19, 2002

TEL AVIV Ñ Palestinian gunners have resumed their fire of Kassam-2 short-range rockets toward Israel.

The rocket fire came during the visit to Israel by U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney.

Israeli military sources said two rockets landed in Israeli territory north of the Gaza Strip. The sources said nobody was hurt in the Palestinian attack on Monday.

Hours before the Kassam attack, Israeli and Palestinian officials met to discuss the resumption of security cooperation. Palestinian sources said the Israeli delegation submitted a plan to reduce the violence and ensure a military withdrawal from Palestinian areas.

Cheney has been criticized by the Palestinian Authority for refusing to meet Arafat during his one-day visit. PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the PA would not authorize anybody to meet Cheney.

"We are in fact perplexed that such a senior American official who is on an important tour in the region, designed to address the current crisis in the Middle East, will meet one of the parties in this conflict without meeting the other, represented and lead by President Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian people," Abed Rabbo said.

Israeli military forces withdrew from Palestinian Authority areas in the northern Gaza Strip and Bethlehem. Military sources said Israeli troops killed three Palestinian insurgents during a clash overnight Tuesday.

Palestinian sources said another three Palestinians were killed in clashes in the West Bank. An Israeli officer was also killed in the clash, which took place in the Jordan Valley.

Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was willing to allow PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to leave for the Arab League summit in Beirut next week. But Sharon linked this to a Palestinian ceasefire and did not rule out that Arafat would be banned from returning to the PA areas should Israel continue to come under Palestinian insurgency attacks.

Print this Article Print this Article Email this article Email this article Subscribe to this Feature Free Headline Alerts