|
Abbas slams Israeli raid as last hostages freed
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-16 09:24
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas accused Israel of a "dreadful crime" as he
toured the scene of a devastating raid on a West Bank prison that sparked
widespread diplomatic recriminations.
Palestinian leader
Mahmud Abbas speaks to the press as he stands in front of the destroyed
jail in the West Bank town of Jericho. Abbas accused Israel of a "dreadful
crime" as he toured the scene of a devastating raid on a West Bank prison
that sparked widespread diplomatic recriminations.
[AFP] |
Abbas said he could understand the
anger of Palestinians at Israel's seizure of militants held in Jericho jail but
appealed for a halt to attacks on Western targets as the last four of a dozen
hostages seized Tuesday were freed.
"What happened in Jericho was a dreadful crime... Israel had no right to
carry out this kidnapping," said Abbas, who cut short a European tour to manage
the crisis.
He acknowledged the Palestinian Authority had been warned that American and
British monitors at the prison were set to be pulled out but said they were kept
in the dark about the timing of their withdrawal just minutes before the Israeli
assault.
"As a consequence, there is definitely no responsibility for the Palestinian
Authority about this issue," he told reporters.
The prison raid further underlined the complete collapse in relations between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority following the shock election win of the
militant Islamist movement Hamas in January.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had strongly denied Palestinian charges
of collusion with the Israeli operation, insisting that London had informed both
Israel and the Palestinians of the pullout on March 8.
Abbas reiterated calls for Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
leader Ahmed Saadat and the other five militants to be returned immediately to
the previous custody arrangements.
But Israel made clear there was no question of handing back the militants,
five of whom it holds responsible for the 2001 murder of far-right tourism
minister Rehavam Zeevi. That killing was carried out in response to the Israeli
assassination of Saadat's predecessor Abu Ali Mustafa.
"The state prosecutor will hold a meeting in the coming days with justice
ministry and defence officials on how to try the murderers of minister Zeevi,"
said a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.
Four of the five have already been convicted by a Palestinian court and one
by an Israeli court, but Saadat has never faced trial.
Amid criticism of the raid from both the European Union and Russia -- two of
the main players in the Middle East peace process -- Acting Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert strongly defended the operation, saying there had been no misgivings in
either London or Washington.
"You heard the British foreign secretary and officials in the US State
Department... None of them complained, put pressure or demanded anything," he
said.
"Everyone placed the full responsibility on the Palestinian Authority and
gave their full backing to the decision we made..."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs that the withdrawal had been
forced by concerns for the monitors' safety.
"For the past three months we have been warning the Palestinian Authority
that the security of these monitors was at risk, that the procedures at the
particular detention centre were not adequate and proper."
But outgoing Palestinian foreign minister Nasser al-Qidwa rejected his
explanation. "We do not agree with the assessment that there was any direct
threat to the monitors there," he told reporters.
The Israeli government strenuously denied that the raid -- a fortnight before
a general election -- was motivated by political considerations, charging that
the Palestinian Authority was on the verge of freeing those suspected of being
behind Zeevi's assassination.
"We had no choice but to intervene as no responsible state could allow the
murderers of one of its ministers to be at liberty," said Defence Minister Shaul
Mofaz.
Amid fury across the Palestinian political spectrum over the deadly raid, the
territories ground to a halt under a general strike and Israeli and Palestinian
security forces alike remained on high alert for revenge attacks.
Security was also beefed up around foreign interests, notably British and
American offices, after Anglo-US targets suffered the brunt of unrest that
inflamed the Palestinian territories on Tuesday.
The four hostages -- Canadian teacher Adam Budzanowski, South Korean
television correspondent Yong Tae-young and French journalists Caroline Laurent
and Alfred Yacobzadeh -- were brought back to Jerusalem after being freed in
Gaza City.
Unlike other hostages who were held for a matter of hours, the teacher and
three journalists endured a lengthier ordeal at the hands of PFLP supporters.
For Yacobzadeh, a photographer with the SIPA agency, it had been his second
such ordeal -- he was also held in Beirut during the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war.
|
