2004 年 4 月 18 日 星期日 【晴】

Breaking News:
Hamas chief killed in air strike

The head of the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip is killed by an Israeli attack on his vehicle.
Mr Rantissi was driving his car in a Gaza suburb as an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at it, witnesses say.
At least two other people were also killed and several more wounded.
The attack came hours after a suicide bomber killed himself and an Israeli soldier at the Erez checkpoint just north of the city.
The BBC's Peter Greste, in Gaza City, says people are speculating that the attack was in response to the suicide bombing.
The militant Hamas leader was one of Israel's top targets after it assassinated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in an airstrike last month.

'Israeli crime'
The Palestinian Authority condemned the killing of Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, accusing Israeli of "state terror".
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this Israeli crime and state terror," he said.
"It is evident now to the world that the Palestinian people need international protection more than ever," Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told Reuters.
Mr Rantissi was one of the most forceful spokesmen against compromise with Israel.
He described himself as one of seven founders of Hamas and was considered second in importance only to Sheikh Yassin
Khaled Meshaal - Hamas' politburo chief in exile - was declared the group's overall leader after Yassin was killed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3635755.stm

Arafat attacks Sharon's Gaza plan

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has reacted angrily to President Bush's decision to endorse the Israeli prime minister's plan for the Middle East.
In a televised speech, Mr Arafat called for an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
He added that Palestinian refugees would never give up their "right to return" to former homes in Israel.
The controversial plan proposes pulling Israelis out of the Gaza Strip, but keeping large areas of the West Bank.
Mr Arafat did not mention Wednesday's meeting between Mr Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon specifically, but said peace in the Middle East "will only be achieved through a final deliverance from the Israeli occupation and settlement activity".
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has also voiced reservations about the Sharon plan, saying any peace deal should be negotiated based on UN resolutions.
The controversy came as the Israelis launched a new raid in the southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinian sources say 15 Palestinians were wounded when Israeli troops backed by a helicopter moved into the Rafah refugee camp.
The Israeli army says it is searching for weapons smuggling tunnels in the camp, which is close to the Egyptian border.

'Changed realities'
The "disengagement" plan envisages Israel uprooting all settlements on the Gaza Strip but keeping six settlement blocs in the West Bank.
Mr Sharon discussed the plan with US President George W Bush at the White House on Wednesday.
After the meeting Mr Bush said the proposals could lead to a "peaceful, democratic, viable Palestinian state".
He added that the "realities on the ground and in the region have changed greatly" and should be reflected in any final peace deal.
The president said any Palestinian refugees who wanted to return should be accommodated on Palestinian land - a statement certain to please Mr Sharon.
The solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, he said, "will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there - rather than Israel".
Mr Sharon said his plan would create "a new and better reality for the state of Israel", and would form the basis of renewed negotiations with the Palestinians.

West Bank settlers (not including East Jerusalem): 240,000
Settlement block populations:
Maale Adumim - 30,000 Ariel - 18,000 Kiryat Arba - 4,000
Hebron enclave - 500 Givat Zeev - 10,000 Gush Etzion - 30,000

Outcry
However Palestinian leaders insist the borders of a new state should be based on the 1967 borders - before Israel took control of the West Bank and Gaza.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said Mr Bush had apparently given "himself the right to make concessions on behalf of the Palestinians... we cannot accept this under any circumstances".
"He is the first president who has legitimised the settlements in the Palestinian territories when he said that there will be no return to the borders of 1967."
Muslim countries are expected to discuss the Israeli plan at a special meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Malaysia on 4 May.
About 92,500 Jews live in the six West Bank settlements Mr Sharon wants to keep - out of a total of 240,000 in the West Bank, or 400,000 if east Jerusalem is included.
Another 7,500 live in enclaves in the Gaza Strip, alongside 1.3 million Palestinians.

Palestinians are outraged at Bush's support for Sharon plan
"If all parties choose to embrace this moment they can open the door to progress and put an end to one of the world's longest-running conflicts" ~ US President George W Bush
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3627817.stm
The BBC's Peter Greste
"This was the first time ordinary Palestinians have been able to organise a response to the developments in Washington" ~ http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/40049000/rm/_40049419_gaza23_greste_vi.ram

World press sceptical about Sharon plan Friday, 16 April, 2004, 11:34 GMT 12:34 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3631863.stm
Explosion at Israel-Gaza crossing
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Hamas have claimed the attack
A Palestinian suicide bomber has blown himself up at a crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3635035.stm


Profile: Hamas leader Rantissi
Rantissi: An uncompromising figure
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, who took over the leadership of the militant Islamic movement Hamas in Gaza after the killing of the group's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin last month, was one of the most forceful spokesmen against compromise with Israel.
He consistently argued that Palestinians have a right to resist Israel by any and all means, including the suicide bombing of civilians.
"They are not terrorism," he said of such attacks." ~ "Abu Mazen's whole speech was a terrible mistake - it was unacceptable" ~ Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2977816.stm

>>April 18, 2004 at 3:05:44 AM GMT+8