PALESTINIANS - Slam US envoy for equating intifada with terror

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Last update - 15:35 03/11/2001

Palestinians slam U.S. envoy for equating intifada with terror

By Reuters

A senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat criticized a U.S. official Saturday for equating the Palestinian uprising with "terror," saying such comments were misleading and biased towards Israel.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield said Friday that a 13-month-old Palestinian revolt had turned into "an ongoing process of calculated terror and escalation."

Israel said the categorisation was a "welcome measure in the right direction", but that Washington should exert more pressure to stop Palestinian militant groups receiving support abroad by placing them on a list of "most wanted" terror organisations.

Ahmed Abdel-Rahman said Satterfield's remarks contradicted U.S. policy aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.

"We condemn these statements by Mr. Satterfield because they are in fact misleading, biased to the Israeli side and failing to tell the truth," said Abdel-Rahman.

"Associating the intifada with terrorism contradicts the American constitution and United Nations convention that considers resisting the foreign occupation as a legitimate right for peoples," he added.

Abdel-Rahman also condemned a U.S. decision Friday to add 22 groups including the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad to a list of "terrorist" groups under tight financial limits imposed after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Satterfield called on Arafat to stop the escalation of violence by cracking down on the two organizations, which he said had "darker interests."

"This will not help the U.S. campaign to combat terrorism. This will add new enemies to America," Abdel-Rahman said.

He added: "Those factions do not conduct any action against the United States. Their activities are directed against the Israeli occupation."

The two militant groups oppose Palestinian-Israeli interim peace deals and have been behind suicide bombings and attacks that have killed scores of Israelis.

The United States, which has criticized Israeli military tactics used to combat the Palestinian uprising as provocative and inflammatory, has exerted efforts to mediate a truce to kick start peacemaking.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001


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