Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hardline policies are to blame for the assassinations of Palestinians and Israelis alike, a state-run Syrian newspaper said Thursday.
Only earlier this week, "Sharon commented on the assassination of a Palestinian leader by saying, 'This was not the first and will not be the last,'" noted the Syria Times after Wednesday's slaying of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.
"In such a case, Sharon, and only Sharon, is responsible for the surge of the assassination wave that sweeps Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip," it added.
"Therefore, he should publicly denounce the Israeli policy of assassination against Palestinians and work to halt it promptly, and put an end to Israel's occupation of Arab territories if he wants to provide the Israelis with the security and peace he had promised them."
The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is based in Damascus, said it gunned down Zeevi in retaliation for the murder of its leader Abu Ali Mustafa in August -- Damascus, (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
