Arafat arrests Hamas leaders
Angered militants promise to resume bombings
March 9, 1996
Web posted at: 11:55 p.m. EST (0455 GMT)JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Muslim militant group Hamas, declaring that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had gone too far in his Friday raids, announced Saturday that it would continue its deadly suicide bombings.
After four Hamas suicide bombings since February 25 that killed 57 people, Israelis cried out for action. And Arafat's police did act Friday night.
They arrested, tried, and convicted 12 Hamas activists, including one of its founders, Ibrahim Yazouri, and another leader, Mohsen Abu Aita -- all within 48 hours.
While Arafat sat down with senior CIA officials in Gaza Saturday to discuss strengthening security against the Muslim militants, their Qassam military wing circulated a flyer in the area saying the attacks would resume.
"The General Command of the Qassam units has studied the situation seriously and objectively and has decided to resume its suicide operations," the leaflet said.
It said Arafat had overstepped its boundaries with the Hamas and called for a halt to raids and arrests in Gaza and the West Bank. The raids would "destroy completely any understanding or future agreement" between Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the leaflet said.
The leaflet also condemned next week's international anti-terrorism summit in Egypt to be attended by Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and European and Middle Eastern heads of state.
Hamas called the summit "an international conspiracy against the struggle of the people and an attempt to save the Zionists from defeat."
Until the rash of bombings, Arafat had sought a political alliance with Hamas and had hoped that the group would lay down its arms to become a legitimate party.
But since the bombings on crowded buses and streets, Arafat accused the group of attempting to "kill the Palestinian dream" for peace and vowed that he would bring the attackers to justice.
Also Friday, a Palestinian source reported that security leader Jibril Rajoub was forced to resign after refusing to arrest Hamas leaders. But Rajoub denied that claim.
Israel Army radio said Arafat was unhappy with Rajoub's investigation of the bombings.
Hussein Sheik, who reportedly replaced Rajoub, said the report was true. "I received an order from Yasser Arafat to hold the job instead of Jibril Rajoub," Sheik told The Associated Press.
But Rajoub said, "I am still in charge of preventative security in the West Bank and I have no problems whatsoever with Arafat."
Palestinian security leaders also attended Saturday's meeting with the CIA, which was held at Arafat's vacation home in Beit Hanoun. Palestinian sources said Arafat requested equipment, trained dogs, explosives discovery expertise and counter-terrorism training for the Palestinian police force.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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