Sharon Hints Arafat Not Allowed to Beirut for Arab Summit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Sharon Hints Arafat Not Allowed to Beirut for Arab Summit

Israeli Prime Minister hinted Tuesday night that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would not be allowed to attend the Arab League Summit scheduled for Wednesday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

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Israeli Prime Minister hinted Tuesday night that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would not be allowed to attend the Arab League Summit scheduled for Wednesday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

"Conditions are not yet right to allow Arafat to travel to Beirut," the prime minister said, adding "if Arafat is allowed to attend the Arab summit, Israel reserves right to prevent his return."

According to Sharon, Arafat's travel to the summit must first meet two conditions: The first is that the leader declares a cease- fire in Arabic, and addresses it to the Palestinians; the second is that the United States grants Israel the option to bar Arafat's return, in the event that terror activities are renewed in Arafat's absence from the territories.

The Israeli cabinet will decide on Wednesday whether to allow Arafat to attend the summit, and whether Israel should take actions if the situation with the Palestinians deteriorates.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office indicated Tuesday that " the conditions are still not ripe" for an Israeli approval of Arafat's travel, as the Palestinian leader "has not made any effort to counter terrorism."

Meanwhile, the Israeli-Palestinian security talks scheduled for Tuesday were again postponed, and no date has yet been set.

After meeting with Palestinian officials Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni admitted that the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians were too wide to bridge, adding that there was no point for the two sides to reconvene the security talks for the time being.

The Israeli cabinet decided Monday to accept "in principle" the latest proposal for a cease-fire presented by Zinni, which is aimed at bridging the disagreements between Israel and the Palestinians. But Israeli officials also have reservations about certain articles in the proposal.

As for the Palestinian side, officials noted that the proposal was still too close to Israel's demands, indicating that they rejected to compromise.

According to the proposal, the Palestinian National Authority should tighten measures against terror, while the Israeli side should shorten the duration for implementing the U.S.-brokered Tenet cease-fire plan, in order to resume full-scale political negotiations as soon as possible.

The two sides have met four times since Zinni's arrival on March 14, but failed to hammer out a cease-fire declaration and detail the measures needed to implement a cease-fire.

Both sides have disagreements over the sequence of a cease-fire -- whether the Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories and lifting of blockades on Palestinian cities should come first, or after the Palestinians take more actions to prevent terror attacks.

Differences have also existed over the duration from the implementation of a cease-fire to a stage in which diplomatic talks would resume. Israel suggests the duration be set for a month, while the Palestinians insists on a period of two weeks.

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