Kuala Lumpur, Feb 25: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat warned today that Israel would exploit a war in Iraq to toughen measures against the Palestinians while the world's attention was focused on Baghdad. Arafat spoke to the 116-nation Non-Aligned Summit through a pre-recorded televised link-up, fearing that if he attended the summit the Israelis would block his return to the Palestinian areas. The Palestinian leader said a succession of peace initiatives aimed at ending the two-year conflict had floundered because of Israeli "neglect and contempt," and added that he feared the world's attention would centre on Iraq and ignore the plight of the Palestinians. "The Palestinian people, who are suffering the greatest hardships as a result of the Israeli aggression against them and the occupation of their land, are going to pay a heavy price if this war is waged," Arafat said in his speech.
"The Israeli government is the first in line to push for this war in order to exploit the situation while the world is busy with Iraq," he alleged. Israel and the Palestinians have been locked in a roiling conflict for 29 months, and nearly 3,000 people have been killed, the vast majority of them Palestinian.
Bureau Report