Sharon Encourages U.S. Envoy to Continue Mediation Mission

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Sharon Encourages U.S. Envoy to Continue Mediation Mission

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday encouraged U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni to continue his mediation in the region and promised that Israel would offer the envoy all the assistance, local media reported.

During a meeting with Zinni, Sharon said that he has placed great importance on the continuation of Zinni's truce mission, adding that Israel will make "every effort" to help Zinni accomplish his mission.

Meanwhile, Sharon repeatedly claimed that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and its leader Yasser Arafat have not " made a strategic decision to fight terror" or engaged in "any serious prevention and arrest activities to fight terrorists or terror infrastructure."

The meeting came after a warning by Zinni on Sunday that he would leave the region if the Palestinians and Israelis failed to made constructive decisions to end their bloody clashes within 48 hours.

It seems that Sharon is worried that once Zinni leaves the Middle East, the current tense situation in the region would further deteriorate, and he believes that Zinni's stay in the region would pressure the PNA and Arafat to take steps to fight against "terrorism."

Later in the day, Zinni met with Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah and cancelled his scheduled meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer.

Zinni's mediation, as part of the U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians, has been overshadowed by escalating violence between the two sides.

Despite difficulties to achieve the objective of Zinni's mission, the U.S. State Department decided last week that Zinni would remain in the region and continue the U.S. efforts to try to produce a ceasefire between the two sides.

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