Washington says Israel should not punish innocent people
Palestine-USA, Politics, 7/20/2002

US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said an Israeli policy of expelling relatives of Palestinian militants would not solve Israel's security problems.

He said yesterday that said punitive actions against individuals should be based upon guilt, and not upon family relationships.

"We expect that Israel's actions in its campaign against terror will be based on information that's related to an individual's culpability, not to personal or family relationships. We think that taking punitive actions against innocent people will not solve Israel's security problems, and we'll be raising that issue with the Israeli government," said Boucher.

Responding to Jordanian Foreign Minster Marwan Muasher's comment that Palestinian elections cannot be effectively conducted until Israeli forces withdraw to their September 28, 2000 positions, Boucher it is essential that the Palestinians improve security.

"They have to be able to campaign. In order to achieve that, we need to improve the security. And we have made clear, as the president made clear in his speech, that as security improves, we would expect Israel to withdraw to those lines," said Boucher.

Previous Stories:
  US administration admits disagreements with Arab and European countries on Arafat's future   (7/18/2002)
  ADC Condemns Israeli assault on Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem   (7/12/2002)
  US is looking for a strategy on Palestinian-Israeli negotiations   (5/30/2002)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search