- LOS ANGELES -- The
United States struggled to fend off Palestinian accusations yesterday that
it had given a green light to Israel's killing of the Hamas leader Abdel
Aziz Rantissi after an official White House statement called for "maximum
restraint" on all sides but pointedly avoided outright criticism of
Israel.
-
- The US response prompted outrage in the Arab world and
unequivocal condemnations of the killing by the United Nations, the European
Union and China, all of whom said Israel's action was a violation of international
law likely to lead only to increased violence.
-
- The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia, flatly
accused the Bush administration of giving its blessing to the killing two
days after it welcomed the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, to Washing-
ton and endorsed his plan for partial withdrawal from the West Bank and
Gaza. Mr Qureia said: "The Palestinian cabinet considers this terrorist
Israeli campaign is a direct result of American encouragement and the complete
bias of the American administration towards the Israeli government."
-
- But even John Kerry, the Democratic Party challenger
in November's presidential election, said he approved of Mr Sharon's approach.
-
- One senior administration official told The New York
Times: "Frankly this thing, coming right after Sharon was in the United
States, looks like an attempt by the Israelis to make us co-conspirators.
We have to make it clear we gave no green light. We can't let the Israelis
rope us into their actions."
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- Less than a month ago, Washington's initial response
to the killing of Mr Rantissi's predecessor, the paraplegic Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin, also failed to condemn Israel. It hardened its stance only after
the British government did.
-
- The White House took several hours to respond to the
death of Mr Rantissi. The three-paragraph statement began with an assertion
of Israel's right "to defend itself from terrorist attacks" and
described Hamas as "a terrorist organisation that attacks civilians".
-
- Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, called for an end
to Israel's assassinations, which he described as "extrajudicial killings"
that violated international law.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=512806
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