Arafat kicks out fugitives to stave off attack
Yasser Arafat forced 20 fugitives hiding in his West Bank headquarters to leave early today, fearing the Israeli army would invade the complex to grab them, one of the fleeing fugitives said.
The fugitives, all members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militant group linked to Arafat’s Fatah faction, have been hiding from the army in Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters for months.
Israel has repeatedly demanded they be kicked out.
Last week, Israeli security officials summoned Ismail Jabber, commander of the Palestinian national forces, and told him if the fugitives were not forced out they would invade, and if necessary, pull them out of “Arafat’s desk drawer,” said a fugitive.
Following that, five of the fugitives left voluntarily. Overnight, at about 3 a.m., Arafat – under pressure from his aides to get rid of the fugitives due to signs Israel was preparing to invade the city of Ramallah – personally told the 20 remaining men to leave.
The Palestinian prime minister asked US President George Bush to reconsider his tacit recognition of some Jewish settlements in the West Bank as Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Early today, Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, Palestinian officials said. The three men were members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militant group linked to Arafat’s Fatah faction.
An Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya entered its third day. Troops blew up a partially built three-storey building yesterday, rocking the town and causing damage to nearby buildings.
The operation, meant to prevent Palestinian militants from firing rockets and mortar rounds at nearby Jewish settlements, sparked fierce clashes in which nine Palestinians were killed.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia wrote a letter to Bush, saying recent US declarations that Israel could keep some of the West Bank and would not have to absorb Palestinian refugees contradict long-standing US policy.
Palestinian leaders are dismayed by Bush’s new policy. Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and Gaza, along with the right of refugees and their descendants to return to Israel, if they so choose.
