Palestinians urged to crack down on Hamas
Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday called on the Palestinian leadership to end the terror campaigns of militant groups such as Hamas and its Izz al-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.
Mr Powell made the announcement along with Quarter partners – the United Nations, the European Union and Russia – at the UN General Assembly. The Quartet is working to rebuild the fractured and derailed road map for peace in the Middle East.
Mr Powell said the “road map” would be “continuously frustrated’ unless the Palestinians found a leader willing to defeat terrorism among its rank and file.
“That road map is still valid, and we are now waiting to see whether or not the Palestinian people are able to put in place, through their own system, a prime minister who will enjoy political authority and control over all the security forces so that we can start moving again down the path laid out,’ Powell said.
Israel for her part was called on to end the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.
Mr Powell’s warning came after a Palestinian gunman entered a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and opened fire in a Jewish home, killing a man and a baby.
Two other Israelis were wounded in the attack on Negahot, near the West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday, echoing the rhetoric of his deputy Ehud Olme, that he was willing to “remove” Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, by any means necessary.
Separately, Mr Sharon said on Friday Israel’s second-largest West Bank settlement would be excluded from the construction of the controversial security fence.
Mr Sharon told Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli daily, US pressure had forced the change of policy: “The Americans were sensitive about construction in the Ariel area. We were worried about the loan guarantees, their intention to deduct the sum invested in the fence from the guarantees. It was agreed that the fence would not enclose the Ariel area.”
