News Israel presents U.S. with 'compelling' evidence tying Arafat to arms shipment

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Evidence provided by Israel to the United States linking Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and top aides to an arms smuggling plot discovered Jan. 3 was "compelling and extensive," a senior U.S. official said Jan. 9.

"Israel has made a compelling and extensive case regarding the involvement of senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah figures," the official said, referring to Arafat's administration and his branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

He did not say that the evidence implicated Arafat himself as the Israelis have claimed.

But the comments were Washington's strongest yet against Arafat in the affair. The Jan. 3 incident began when Israel boarded a vessel in the Red Sea and seized 50 tons of Iranian weapons it said were headed for the Palestinians.

Arafat has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the affair and promised to investigate it.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has made it clear that Arafat's position is increasingly becoming untenable.

"I have spoken to him and he denies it," Powell said. "And I said, 'Thank you for telling me of that denial, but more (Israeli) evidence will be forthcoming."

武器密輸にＰＬＯ関与の証拠

イスラエルは9日、3日に紅海でだ捕した武器密輸船がパレスチナ自治区向けだったとする証拠を米国に提示した。米当局者も、この証拠の信ぴょう性が高いと言明した。

Shukan ST: Jan. 18, 2002

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