This morning, military units and armoured vehicles of the Israeli army entered Ramallah. Yasser Arafat's residence is once again again completely surrounded by Iraeli tanks. In Ramallah and El-Bir, a curfew has been declared. According to the Israeli Press Office, the raid was carried out as a retribution action to the terrorist act committed by a suicide bomber not far from the city of Afula. It didn't take a fortuneteller to foresee that this act of retribution would be carried out and a strike would be delivered to Arafat's residence.
Israel's activities are fully approved of by Washington. Moreover, the Bush administration cannot believe that Yasser Arafat will effectively fight against terrorism. According to White House official Ari Fleischer, the US president never considered Yasser Arafat a reliable person. According to Fleischer, George Bush pays more attention to “activities and results” than to “personalities.” “The president is interested in final results independently of who will achieve them, – Fleischer stressed. If it is Yasser Arafat who achieves them, the president will be satisfied. If somebody else is up to the task the president will be satisfied all the same.”
According to the latest information, sub-units of the Israeli Army started to leave Ramallah on Thursday, where they entered at night and encircled the residence. In total, about 30 armoured vehicles were used in the operation. The Israeli Army confirmed that it is leaving the city and said that the Palestinian leader was not the target of the operation. At the same time, Yasser Arafat held responsible by the Israeli leadership for the anti-Israeli terrorist acts.
Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Vera Solovieva
Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/06/42288.html
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