Israel has said Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat had not met its terms for attending an Arab summit, ignoring American and European pressure to let him go to Beirut to add weight to a Middle East peace initiative.
|
|
Mr Ariel Sharon
|
Although Prime Minister Ariel Sharon left the door open to a last-minute reprieve that would lift a three-month-old travel ban, Mr Arafat looked unlikely to return to Beirut for the first time since he was forced out during Israel's invasion in 1982.
Mr Sharon would risk the ire of the United States, by preventing Mr Arafat from attending the two-day summit starting on tomorrow. But Arab leaders are likely to endorse a Saudi peace initiative anyway.
An Israeli government spokesman said the cabinet had no immediate plans to meet to discuss removing the travel ban because it believed Mr Arafat had not done enough to bring about a truce or arrest militants.
"A decision will be made but not right now, not this morning," spokesman Mr Avi Pazner said. "Arafat has not done enough, but there is still time. The summit has not yet started."
Violence continued today; Israeli police said two Palestinians blew themselves up with their own bomb near Jerusalem on the way to an attack. An Israeli also died of wounds received in a Palestinian attack on a bus in December.
|
The White House said on Monday it would be "constructive" for Arafat to go to the summit because it "should devote its energies to focusing on how to bring peace to the region and not discuss who is or who is not in attendance."
A European Commission spokeswoman said today EU leaders had made very clear at a summit this month that Mr Arafat should be given full freedom to travel to Beirut or anywhere else and without preconditions.
British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said it was not in Israel's interest that Mr Arafat was prevented from going, adding the move would damage prospects of achieving peace in the region.
