Sunday, July 08, 2001

Arafat Criticizes U.S., Saying It Should Do More As evidence of what he contends is his "100 percent effort" to clamp down on terrorism, Mr. Arafat pulled from his jacket pocket, which seemed to contain a wealth of documents, a typed report in Arabic from the Palestinian intelligence service. The report, he said, held detailed information that was provided to the Israelis a day after the June 1 suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv discoth�que that killed 21 young people. It said the Palestinians had learned that the man who drove the suicide bomber to the beachside disco was a longtime informant for Israeli intelligence, Mr. Arafat said, a Palestinian who had been granted Israeli citizenship and resettled in Israel like many "collaborators." The bomber himself was a Palestinian with a Jordanian passport. Mr. Arafat appeared to be trying to make the point that the Tel Aviv bomber and his driver had no connection to the Palestinian Authority while they had at least indirect links with Israel. He also made reference to another deadly terrorist attack, years ago, in which he said Palestinian collaborators also played a key role. Asked to spell out what he was suggesting, he said, "I'm giving you facts and leaving it for everyone to arrive to realities." Nabil Shaath, a senior minister who has objected repeatedly to Israeli demands for a Palestinian roundup of Islamist militants, added, "At the very least, this means that looking for the usual suspects will not work in these cases." Ahttp://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/world/08ARAF.html?pagewanted=all