Sharon Threatens to Freeze Peace Efforts

"Israel/Palestine"

02/27/2005

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that peace efforts with the Palestinians would be frozen if they do not crack down on militant groups in the wake of a weekend suicide bombing that killed four people outside a Tel Aviv nightclub.

The attack Friday and its aftermath broke two weeks of relative calm and strained recently warming relations between the Israelis and Palestinians following the election of moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas last month. Four Israelis were killed and dozens of others were wounded in the bombing.

There were conflicting accounts as to who was responsible for the attack. Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group with leadership in Lebanon and Syria, claimed responsibility Saturday after first denying any connection to the bombing.

Abbas blamed the attack on a “third party,” which other Palestinian officials said was the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran. Hezbollah denied the accusation.

A senior Israeli military official said Hezbollah had nothing to do with the attack, but was vigorously working to carry out other attacks on Israel. Israeli police remained on heightened alert throughout the country Sunday.

Sharon blamed the attack on Islamic Jihad militants, working on the orders of their leaders in Syria. “We know this for certain,” he said.

Abbas has resisted Israel’s previous demands to crack down, saying he preferred instead to use persuasion to end the militant attacks.

Israeli officials had said they would not pressure him as long as things remained quiet, but Sharon demanded on Sunday that Abbas carry out an immediate operation against Islamic Jihad.

“The state of Israel is interested in moving toward an agreement with the Palestinians, but there will be no progress politically, and I repeat no political progress, until the Palestinians carry out a determined campaign to destroy the terrorist groups and their infrastructure,” Sharon said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said the Palestinians want to continue the track begun earlier this month at a regional summit in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, where both sides declared a cessation of violence.

“If Israel wants to cut off contacts with the Palestinians it will be its own decision and we will not cry,” Qureia told reporters. “But we say that there is an opportunity begun in Sharm el-Sheik and we want to develop this effort.”

Israeli military officials said Sunday they received information a month ago that the cell behind Friday’s bombing was planning an attack and passed it along to Palestinian officials, who did nothing.

Israel also threatened Syria, with Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim saying Israel would not hesitate to target its longtime enemy if it felt that would stop Damascus-based groups from attacking. Despite Israeli accusations, Syrian officials denied involvement in the suicide bombing.

In 2003, Israeli warplanes bombed an Islamic Jihad base in Syria after a suicide bombing killed 19 people at a restaurant in Haifa.

“There is no doubt that Syria is a center of terrorist activity, this time against Israel, but also regionally,” Boim said. “Operations by us against Syria are certainly possible. We have done it the past. If (Syrian President Bashar) Assad needs another message from us, then he will certainly get it.”

However, Israeli military officials said Sunday that there was no military action planned against Syria, adding that Israel planned no response stronger than arrests to the attack.

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Assad was responsible, because the orders came from his country.

“He has to decide which world he belongs to - the world of terrorism or the world that fights terrorism,” Peres told Israel’s Army Radio.

Israel and the United States have demanded that Syria close the headquarters of Palestinian militant groups there and end its support for other militant organizations.

Relations between Israel and the Palestinians have warmed considerably since Abbas’ election last month.

Abbas has deployed Palestinian security forces throughout the Gaza Strip to prevent militants from firing rockets on Israel and brokered a temporary agreement with the militant groups to halt attacks. In response, Israel released 500 Palestinian prisoners, promised to end targeted killings of militant leaders and agreed to hand over security control of five West Bank towns to the Palestinians.

After Friday’s attack, Israel froze plans for the security handover because it no longer believes the Palestinian security forces are capable of controlling the towns.

Qureia criticized the decision as “wrong and unacceptable.”

Abbas met Saturday with security officials and Cabinet ministers to discuss a response to the attack. He also reiterated his support for the truce and said he was exchanging information with Israel, the United States and Europe.

Palestinian police arrested two suspects with ties to Islamic Jihad on Saturday. Israeli forces also arrested two of the bomber’s brothers and four neighbors in his home village, including the local mosque preacher. The alleged driver who transported the bomber was also arrested.

Islamic Jihad officials in the West Bank and Gaza denied involvement in the attack. But late Saturday, the group posted a claim of responsibility on its Web site. An official from the Syria-based leadership of the group also claimed responsibility in a phone call from Lebanon.