Putrajaya, Oct 12: In stark contrast to their official position on terrorism, a senior Palestinian official said today that Palestinians are entitled to fight Israel ``by all means", a seemingly implicit approval of the suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of people and derailed past peace initiatives. Farouk Kaddoumi is representing the Palestinians at a weeklong series of meetings and summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is prevented from leaving Ramallah by the Israeli military.
``Pursuing the armed struggle is a must, as it is the only solution in sight to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,'' Kaddoumi, the de facto Palestinian foreign minister, told.
``We must continue our struggle against the occupation. This is the only solution to our problem.''
The Israeli government has often retaliated against suicide bombings by invading Palestinian territory, targeting senior militant leaders in rocket attacks and, recently, launching an air strike inside Syria at an alleged training camp for Palestinian militants.
The Palestinian Authority condemns suicide attacks after they occur, and Kaddoumi's comments appeared to be direct opposition to the official Palestinian position.
Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia spoke out against a suicide bomb attack on a restaurant at the port city of Haifa that killed 20 Israelis.
Kaddoumi, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's political department, said attempts by the Palestinians to free their homeland should not be equated to terrorism. Bureau Report