Oreikat resigns on the wake of Abu Mazin - Sharon meeting
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 5/17/2003

Israel announced on the wake of its prime minister's meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Nazin) it will not agree to the Roadmap without introducing 14 amendments to it. A matter which Washington has ignored, announcing that the US President George Bush does not intend to run the ME peace process minute by minute.

Meantime, the government of Abu Mazin faced its first setback as the minister of negotiation affairs, Saeb Oreikat, had resigned.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces prevented thousands of Palestinians from entering Jerusalem to perform Friday's prayer in al-Aqsa mosque.

The Israeli foreign minister told journalists in London that "Israel has 14 contributions aiming at amending the peace plan sponsored by the International Quartet committee, that was actually accepted by the Palestinians." He added "these are not obstacles, rather to eliminate the gaps ..., otherwise I fear it will be like many other 'failing' initiatives since 1967."

The Israeli foreign minister indicated that Sharon's acceptance of the plan without a change "might be conducive to the collapse of the government and make it necessary to have elections, which result in further delay." However, Sharon is due to meet today with Abu Mazin in the first meeting at a high level between the two sides since months. Sharon will be also meeting with the US President George Bush on Tuesday.

The Israeli foreign minister who met with the British prime minister Tony Blair and with his foreign office secretary Jacque Straw on Thursday said that Israel considers Abu Mazin as more moderate than the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and will work with him to revive peace efforts. He expressed his hope that the Sharon- Abbas meeting will be "the beginning of an operation that will lead us to the resumption of the negotiations. He added that after the war in Iraq there will be new opportunities we are determined to avail. And we do hope the Palestinians will have the same feelings."

However, hundreds of Palestinians yesterday performed Friday's prayers in the streets of the old city and around the old walls of Jerusalem in protest of preventing them from entering al-Aqsa mosque. This is, however, in the course of the measures taken by the Israeli police for fears of violent demonstrations in protest of the campaign of arrest targeting the leaders of the Islamic movement.

The Israeli police deployed large forces in the surrounding of al-Aqsa mosque and the entrances of the Arab towns and prevented men under 40 years old from taking part in the prayers.

On the other hand, Oreikat provoked the first Palestinian government crisis as he declared his resignation from the government yesterday. Oreikat did not give reasons to journalists but he said he had submitted his resignation two days earlier and has not yet received an answer.

A Palestinian official source said that Arafat "rejected the resignation and asked Oreikat to retract it."

This resignation, however, reflects a deep regret inside the Palestinian leadership since Abu Mazin's government assumed its mission on April 30. The source said that Oreikat regretted he is not a member in the delegation which will meet with Sharon, noting that Oreikat is close to Arafat.

The source said that "Abbas did not ask Oreikat to accompany him for meeting with Sharon " and that his resignation is a clear result of the tension prevailing inside the government." He said "some ( persons) in the government do not want to see Oreikat making negotiations and refuse to take part in a committee specialized on the negotiations when he is there."

Meantime, the Israeli army continued occupation of areas in northern Gaza where five Palestinians were killed on Thursday in an incursion operation. Israeli military sources said that one Israeli soldier was strongly wounded when a bomb went off near an Israeli tank in Beit Hanoun area.

A spokesman for the Israeli army said that a missile shell of Qassam type was fired yesterday at Sdeirout in the Negev desert and resulted in no casualties. The Israeli army justified reoccupation of areas in Northern Gaza because al-Qassam missiles are fired from there.

In Berlin, the US secretary of State Colin Powell said that his talks with the German officials dealt with the situation in the Middle East and "our hopes concerning the peace process and the needed steps required from the Palestinian and Israeli sides which will lead us to fulfil the President's vision he announced in his speech on June 2002."

Previous Stories:
  Five Palestinians killed in Beit Hanoun invasion, Powell asks for concessions   (5/16/2003)
  Palestinians killed in Israeli incursion of Khan Younis, Nablus   (5/15/2003)
  Following Palestinian bombardment wounding 14 Israelis, Israel incur in Khan Younis wounding scores of Palestinians   (5/14/2003)
  Powell calls for honoring living conditions of Palestinians, Sharon calls on Abbas to fight Intifada, one Palestinian killed   (5/12/2003)
  Palestinian official statement on the Road Map   (5/12/2003)
  Six Palestinians killed by Israel; Palestinian blows up himself at an Israeli check point   (5/9/2003)

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