PERES: OBL is hurting Palestinian cause

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Peres: Bin Laden Does Not Help Palestinians and Hurts Their Cause

By Gerald Nadler Associated Press Writer

Published: Nov 15, 2001

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Osama bin Laden's claim to be fighting for Palestinian independence is hurting the Palestinian struggle, Israel's foreign minister said Thursday. Shimon Peres, speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, took aim at bin Laden's assertion that one of his goals is to aid the Palestinians. Bin Laden is the United States' No. 1 suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Peres said the Palestinians themselves know that bin Laden is hindering their struggle for independence.

"Bin Laden claims that he (wants) to help the Palestinians, but in the eyes of the Palestinians, he is an obstacle, not an aid," said Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. "Israel made peace with Egypt, returned all the land and water without bin Laden, without terror.

"We did likewise with the Jordanians, not because of terrorism, but because terror came to an end," he said.

"Bin Laden and his abhorrent ideas will never contribute to peace, nor hope to any nation, religion or individual," Peres said. "They spread hatred, disseminate fear and plant mines. They are just a catastrophe at large."

Peres did not mention an upcoming U.S. speech next week that is expected to spell out a new Bush administration initiative to help end the yearlong Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But he spelled out his thinking on the creation of a Palestinian state, which the United States supports.

"Yesterday, you would hardly find, for example, support for a Palestinian state," Peres said. "And though this is not yet a formal policy of the government of Israel, there is support for a Palestinian independence, support for a Palestinian state.

"We do not want to dominate the Palestinians. We want them to breathe freedom, to create a new economy, to maintain their tradition, to enjoy the highest level of education, and provide real security to all parties," he said.

Peres spoke 13 years to the day that Yasser Arafat declared Palestinian independence without proclaiming a Palestinian state. In Gaza on Wednesday, 2,000 Palestinians marched, demanding that the Palestinian leader finally declare a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This week, President Bush did not meet Arafat when the Palestinian chief spoke at the General Assembly. The United States maintains Arafat must do more to rein in violence during the current uprising against Israel. Washington has also demanded that Israel end incursions into Palestinian-controlled territory.

AP-ES-11-15-01 1335EST

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2001


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