A rchive Date
[ 20-02-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Israel ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-04-09-0006.html
'IT'S A START'
Israeli forces withdraw from 2 towns -- but go into another
By AP
Tuesday, April 9, 2002
NABLUS, West Bank - Even as Israel appeared to cede to international pressure by pulling out of two towns early today, reports emerged that its troops were moving into the West Bank town of Dora.
Witnesses in Dora said that tanks and armoured personnel carriers, backed by helicopters, rolled into the town before dawn. The move into Dora came as Israel announced the staggered pullback from Tulkarem and Qalqiliya ahead of a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"It's a start," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
A statement issued by Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer late last night said that the operation to wipe out militant networks in the two cities had been successful.
Still, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to continue the offensive he launched March 29 in response to a wave of suicide bombings.
Yesterday's developments unfolded as Powell arrived in Morocco on the first stop of his peacemaking mission and was bluntly asked by King Mohammed: "Don't you think it was more important to go to Jerusalem first?"
Earlier, U.S. President George W. Bush heatedly responded to statements from a defiant Sharon that his army would complete its mission.
"I meant what I said to the prime minister of Israel. I expect there to be a withdrawal without delay," Bush said.
Sharon's comments put him on a collision course with Washington, which gives Israel $3 billion US in aid a year.
In Nablus, dozens of gunmen surrendered to Israeli troops while scores more lay wounded on blankets on a mosque floor. Some of the men were dying and doctors lacked even the most basic supplies.
Israeli helicopters also pounded the Jenin refugee camp with missiles, and bulldozers flattened homes as gunmen retreated. Israeli officials estimated more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the camp.
Israeli Brig.-Gen. Eyal Shline said the armed men "seem to have decided to fight to the last, to make the battle as bloody as possible."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Sharon of wrecking Powell's mission to the region, including a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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