The United States has found safe haven for beseiged
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
U.S. officials said the Bush administration has obtained approval from
Morocco to provide asylum to Arafat. The officials said that over the past
few days U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell contacted Arab and Islamic
countries in an effort to end the Israeli takeover of Arafat's headquarters
in Ramallah.
"We have found a place for Arafat," a U.S. official said. "The problem
is that Arafat doesn't want to leave just yet."
Officials said that one of the obstacles to Arafat's exile is his
insistence that he bring with him scores of aides and Palestinian insurgents
wanted by Israel. The insurgents include up to 70 Fatah and Hamas agents
accused of being responsible for the wave of suicide bombings in Israeli
cities.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has refused Arafat's demand to leave
with the scores of people trapped in his office and that of Palestinian
Authority security chief Col. Jibril Rajoub. Rajoub is believed to be
harboring at least 70 Palestinian insurgents in his complex in nearby
Betunia.
Overnight Monday, Israel expanded its military operation to other cities
in the West Bank. Israeli tanks and troops captured Bethlehem, Kalkilya and
Tulkarm with tanks. So far, the military has captured 500 insurgents and a
large amount of Palestinian weaponry. The next target in the Israeli
military campaign is expected to be the West Bank city of Nablus.
The Palestinians have responded with suicide bombings in Israeli
communities. On Sunday, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 14 Israelis in a
restaurant in the northern city of Haifa. Another bomber blew himself up in
the West Bank Jewish community of Efrat south of Bethlehem. Three Israelis
were injured.
For their part, ministers in Sharon's Cabinet said Israel has not yet
decided to exile Arafat. They suggested that the current Israeli military
operation in the West Bank would be ended within days. "We know we don't
have an unlimited opportunity," Ben-Eliezer said on Monday.
U.S. officials said the effort to find Arafat safe haven is being aided
by the European Union. They said such countries as Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia
refused to provide Arafat with asylum.
Israel has pledged to the Bush administration not to assassinate Arafat,
officials said. They said the administration has not expressed opposition to
a widescale military campaign against the PA that will be concluded within
days.
But officials said the administration, in fear of a regional war in the
Middle East sparked by Hizbullah, has pressed Israel to end its military
operation within several days. They said the administration has come under
tremendous pressure from Arab allies of the United States as well as from
the European Union.
Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
has called on the United States and EU to send troops to the West Bank and
Gaza Strip to implement a ceasefire between Israel and the PA. Biden said
Arab allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia should contribute troops to the
peacekeeping effort.
