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| Middle East |
| Israeli sweeps continue despite U.S. calls for calm |
| 2002-10-20 |
| Israeli troops arrested at least eight suspected militants in the West Bank yesterday, continuing a crackdown on the Palestinian uprising despite calls for calm from Washington. Four soldiers were injured in the pre-dawn swoop that centred on the city of Nablus when they blew up the door to a wanted man's house. "Ow!... A little less plastique in the next one, Moshe!" The Palestinians detained belonged to President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction and Hamas. Who else is there anymore? The sweeps came as Israel eased its hold on several West Bank cities, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned from Washington talks and U.S. envoy William Burns set off to the Middle East with a peace plan in his pocket. I think this is his first trip that hasn't been punctuated by a wave of bombings back home... "The U.S. is absolutely committed to doing everything that we can on the Palestinian issue and on the broader Arab-Israeli issue," Burns said in Cairo. "At the moment, this involves letting the Israelis clear out the rats' nests while we make pious noises." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |