Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat "will not leave Ramallah as long as he does not act against the terror."
The security-cabinet was set to convene after the full cabinet to discuss U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's mission to the region. It was also slated to discuss ways to possibly block Arafat's return from this week's Arab League summit in Beirut, if he is allowed to attend, but the meeting was cancelled after the weekly cabinet.
While no final decision has been made on this matter, Sharon expressed an interest in attending the conference himself to explaining Israel's position personally to the Arab leaders.
"Whether or not Arafat goes to Beirut depends on what develops on the ground," an official in the Prime Minister's Office said.
Hizbullah
The secretary general of Lebanon's Lebanese resistance Hizbullah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah called again on Sunday on Arab leaders meeting this week in Beirut to provide weapons for the Palestinian intifada, against Israel.
"The Arab summit should back in a clear manner the intifada and the resistance of the Palestinian people ... by providing them with arms and money," Nasrallah told a massive crowd of 200,000 gathered at a main square at Beirut's mainly Shiite southern suburbs.
Nasrallah was speaking to mark the Ashura, when Shiites mourn the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, AFP reported.
Bush
Meanwhile, The United States bluntly told Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to "get busy" with halting violence against Israelis if he hopes to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney.
"We've made it very clear to Mr Arafat that he is not doing all he can do to fight off terror. I can't be any more clear than that," US President George W. Bush said Saturday at a joint press conference with Peru's Alejandro Toledo. Bush's national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, told reporters the White House was getting updates on U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's progress several times a day and said Arafat knew what he had to do.
"He needs to make very clear that the Palestinian Authority does not think that terrorism is a part of its arsenal in dealing with Israel," she said. "Arafat needs to get busy." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
