US Denies Giving Green
Light To Rantissi Assassination
By Andrew Gumbel
The Independent - UK
4-18-4
LOS ANGELES -- The United States struggled to fend off Palestinian
accusations yesterday that it had given a green light to Israel's
killing of the Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi after an official
White House statement called for "maximum restraint" on all sides but
pointedly avoided outright criticism of Israel.
The US response prompted outrage in the Arab world and unequivocal
condemnations of the killing by the United Nations, the European Union
and China, all of whom said Israel's action was a violation of
international law likely to lead only to increased violence.
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia, flatly accused the Bush
administration of giving its blessing to the killing two days after it
welcomed the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, to Washing- ton and
endorsed his plan for partial withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr Qureia said: "The Palestinian cabinet considers this terrorist
Israeli campaign is a direct result of American encouragement and the
complete bias of the American administration towards the Israeli
government."
But even John Kerry, the Democratic Party challenger in November's
presidential election, said he approved of Mr Sharon's approach.
One senior administration official told The New York Times: "Frankly
this thing, coming right after Sharon was in the United States, looks
like an attempt by the Israelis to make us co-conspirators. We have to
make it clear we gave no green light. We can't let the Israelis rope
us into their actions."
Less than a month ago, Washington's initial response to the killing of
Mr Rantissi's predecessor, the paraplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, also
failed to condemn Israel. It hardened its stance only after the
British government did.
The White House took several hours to respond to the death of Mr
Rantissi. The three-paragraph statement began with an assertion of
Israel's right "to defend itself from terrorist attacks" and described
Hamas as "a terrorist organisation that attacks civilians".
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, called for an end to Israel's
assassinations, which he described as "extrajudicial killings" that
violated international law.
© 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=512806
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20 Apr 2004 11:04:49 AM |
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