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Israel ready to lift Arafat siege

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Friday, February 22, 2002

JERUSALEM Ñ Israel is preparing to end the siege imposed on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres have discussed the terms of allowing Arafat to leave his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah after more than two months. The officials said Arafat is moving to fulfill the terms for his release.

On Thursday, Israeli and PA officials said three suspected killers of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi were arrested by the Palestinian Authority. Sharon had demanded the arrest of the suspects, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, before he lifts the siege on Arafat.

The officials said Arafat could be allowed to travel to the Arab League summit in Beirut on March 27. The officials said Sharon first wants the three PFLP suspects to be prosecuted.

"Our demand, which we presented all along, has been for their detention," Sharon said. "Since the inner Cabinet made a decision, the matter will return to the inner cabinet, which will decide the issue."

Arafat's release is also being supported by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. But Sharon aides are said to be concerned that Arafat would be strengthened by meetings abroad with Arab and Western leaders.

The officials said Israel's siege on Arafat has been discussed with the United States. In turn, Saudi Arabia has urged Washington to allow Arafat to leave for the Arab summit and end Israeli attacks on PA installations.

Sharon has approved a plan to construct a security barrier between Israeli and Palestinian areas along the West Bank. The plan, which will take at least a year to complete, was voted by the Cabinet earlier this month and includes fences as well as electronic sensors. Under the plan, Jewish communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would remain.

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