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Newsletter : 1fax0618.txt
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>JN June 18, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 101
Powell: More Progress Needed To End Violence
By VOA News
Secretary of State Colin Powell said the level of violence in the Middle East has dropped somewhat, but that a lot more progress is needed.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Powell said attention must be focused on breaking the cycle of violence. He said once that is done, there can be a cooling off period and confidence building measures.
Sharon Rejects Proposed Three-way Talks with Arafat
By VOA News
Efforts to stabilize the Mideast ceasefire ran Into new problems Sunday. Israel radio said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon turned down a request from Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat for a three-way meeting with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres that would also include U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The request was relayed to Sharon Saturday evening by Annan as the U.N. chief wound up his Mideast peace mission. Israel Radio said Sharon also turned down a U.N. request to speed up implementation of the Mitchell Commission recommendations. The Mitchell Commission, headed by for Sen. George Mitchell, outlined a number of steps aimed at halting the violence.
Sharon repeated his insistence that political discussions could only begin after terrorism and violence cease. Israeli media reports said the Arafat invitation to Peres resulted in an angry confrontation with Sharon at a cabinet meeting Saturday. Peres reportedly argued that the proposed three-way session would be aimed only at improving the ceasefire.
Before leaving Jerusalem, Annan praised both Israel and the Palestinians for accepting the Mitchell report. He said the ceasefire is a good beginning, but that what is needed now is a timeline for implementing the recommendations.
Meanwhile, sporadic clashes continued. In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian reportedly drove a donkey cart carrying explosives toward an Israeli tank and detonated them and was shot as he attempted to flee. Israel radio said the attack occurred near the Israeli settlement of Dahania. But despite that incident, the weekend was one of the quietest since the spiral of violence began last September.
British TV Airs Controversial Program Angering Israelis
By VOA News
The British Broadcasting Corporation has gone ahead with a scheduled airing of a documentary that examined whether Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should be tried as a war criminal.
The documentary, Sunday evening, on the BBC's domestic Panorama program, sparked outrage in Israel with charges that the BBC was biased against Israel and pro-Palestinian.
The program investigates whether Sharon should be put on trial for the killing of hundreds of Palestinians by Israeli-allied Lebanese Christian militiamen during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Sharon was Israel's defense minister at the time.
Officials at the BBC defended the documentary as a legitimate analysis of a human rights issue. A BBC statement said the program asked whether the evidence from that time would be sufficient to justify criminal charges. A 1983 Israeli inquiry found Sharon indirectly responsible for the massacres of hundreds of men, women and children at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut.
An Israeli government spokesman last week accused the BBC of being anti-Semitic, and of not operating according to normal journalistic standards. The BBC statement expressed regret at the Israeli reaction, but said the organization would continue to report events in Israel and the surrounding region to the best of its ability.
Hamas Leader Stranded at Amman Airport
By Caroline Hawley (BBC-Amman)
The Arab League in Cairo said it is working with both Jordan and Qatar to try to resolve a continuing stand-off over a senior official of the radical Palestinian group, Hamas, who is stranded at Amman airport.
Ibrahim Ghosheh, a Jordanian national and former spokesman for Hamas, was deported from Jordan to Qatar in 1999 along with four other members of the group. But on Thursday he flew home, creating a political embarrassment for Jordan.
The Qatari Airways plane, which carried Ghosheh home, has remained on the tarmac for four days. Jordan wants it to fly the Hamas leader back to Qatar where he had been living quietly since he was expelled from Amman about 18 months ago.
But the Qatari pilot is refusing to take him back and Jordan will not let the plane go without Ghosheh on board. Jordan has made clear it would not let the plane take off unless Ghosheh renounced his links with Hamas.
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