Arafat Accuses Israel of Attacking Palestinians With Depleted Uranium
Speaking after a meeting with Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, Arafat said he had discussed the "Military, economic and logistical blockade" on the Palestinians.
He said that Israeli forces "used internationally-banned uranium missiles for their tanks and planes."
However, it is believed that the Arafat's conservative act of calling for an end to the Intifada in such a situation is unwise. This can also convey the meaning that the Palestinian side is using firearms, while it is the Zionist regime which has been widely using such weapons against the Palestinian demonstrators.
He made the remarks following a statement earlier Thursday by a military spokesman in Bait-ul-Moqaddas that Israel had used U.S.-made depleted uranium shells, but only in the navy and abandoned them year ago.
"The shells of the kind used by NATO were used by the navy for vulcan-planex cannons, but they were taken out of service a year ago," the spokesman told AFP.
"There is no risk of radiation with this type of shell and all necessary precautions were taken over the years," the spokesman said.
He refused to explain why the uranium shells were withdrawn from service, saying: "The armed forces do not give out information on why they use this or that piece of weaponry." He also said the weapons "were not used" in Lebanon."
The 20 millimeter cannons which can fire between 4,000 and 6,000 rounds per minute are used on the Israeli Navy's Shar Class gunboats.
The use of the depleted uranium shells was earlier reported in the ****Yediot Aharonot**** newspaper, which said they had been used for 20 years, and on occasions teams of soldiers slept next to stockpiles of the shells.
The paper quoted soldiers as saying the use of these shells had been rare, as they were only used in operations and not in exercises.
Their first use was in 1985 when an Israeli gunboat intercepted and sank a boat carrying a Palestinian commando group heading for Israel.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Wednesday announced the creation of a special committee to study possible health consequences from the use of depleted uranium.
In a Friday violence in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil at least three Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers on Friday following marches in the West Bank denouncing security coordination with Israel and the return to peace negotiations.
In the southern West Bank city of Al-Khalil, Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians who threw stones at them, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
The Al-Khalil clashes broke out after some 2,000 Palestinians marched to denounce Israeli-Palestinian security coordination, which has been discussed by officials from both sides for nearly a week.
"Security Coordination Spoils the Blood of the Martyrs and the Intifada!" shouted some of the demonstrators.
"Stop the Negotiations!" cheered others.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israeli troops fired tear gas on a large group of Palestinians who threw stones at an Israeli military checkpoint at the northern edge of the Arab-run city.
The Ramallah clashes erupted after another march attended by some 3,000 Palestinians who called for the over three-month-long Palestinian Intifada or uprising to continue.
"The Refugees' Right of Return Cannot Be Compromised!" shouted demonstrators, referring to a peace plan by U.S. President Bill Clinton which would bar Palestinian refugees from returning to Israel.
Since the Intifada began on September 28, 375 people have been killed, a vast majority of them Palestinians.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in Al-Khalil on Friday, an AFP photographer witnessed and the Israeli Army confirmed.
The photographer said Israeli soldiers, responding to the sound of an explosion, entered a restaurant and shot a man inside. The photographer added that the soldiers then took the man's lifeless body, leaving a wide trail of blood.
Other witnesses recounted a similar series of events, in which the solders heard the sound of the explosion, began to shoot, entered the restaurant, shot a man inside and took his body.
A marathon meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials at the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel ended early Friday with an agreement to hold two more days of discussions, Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
"There was an agreement to hold meetings over the next two consecutive days," Abed Rabbo told voice of Palestine radio.
U.S. President Clinton's peace proposals were center stage Thursday night at the meeting of senior Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
Clinton, who leaves office on January 20, has been struggling to bring about at least a declaration of principles on his proposals. These encompass Israeli concessions on territory in exchange for Palestinians renouncing a demand for refugees to be allowed to return to their homes in what is now Israel.
But Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians rejected a declaration of principles.
"The Palestinian side expressed the need to reach a complete and detailed peace agreement with international guarantees that it will be implemented.
"We reject any agreement that is a declaration of principles or interim agreement. What we want is full agreement," he added.
The Israeli delegation consisted of Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, Tourism and Transport Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Gilad Sher, chief of staff of caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
The Palestinian side was represented by Ahmad Qorei, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, top negotiator Saeb Erakat, Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo and Gaza Strip preventative Security Chief Mohammad Dahlan.