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Palestinian Authority Objects to Arrest of Abbas
Aired April 16, 2003 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the Palestinian Authority is raising objections to the arrest of Abu Abbas. Let's get more on that angle from Jerusalem. Kelly Wallace checking in now. Hello, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. Well, that objection coming from a senior Palestinian minister, Saeb Erakat who says the arrest of Abu Abbas violates a 1995 agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians signed by the United States and other countries stemming from the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. David was mentioning it just a short time ago. This agreement, according to the Palestinians, stipulated that no Palestinian could be arrested for any violent acts committed before September 1993, when the Oslo Peace Accords were signed.
Saeb Erakat says that he got in touch today with American officials, and is calling for the immediate release of Abu Abbas. Palestinians are also saying that Abu Abbas was allowed by the Israelis and the United States to travel freely to Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip in the 1990s, including in 1996 and in 1998, and that he was never arrested.
Well, to all this, Israeli officials say that Abu Abbas was given a chance, in the words of one official, to mend his ways, but that he never did. Israeli officials say that Abu Abbas never renounced terrorism, and never fully supported Mideast peace, conditions they say also coming under that 1995 agreement. So Israelis are hailing this arrest of Abu Abbas, but quite a different story, Leon, from the Palestinians.
HARRIS: Yes -- and Kelly, we understand now the connection between the Oslo Accords and the sanction that was offered because of that agreement, so therefore, that most infamous event with which he has been associated, that Achille Lauro hijacking, that's off the table now. But is there any -- any thinking there in Israel that Abu Abbas has actually had some sort of link with any terrorist attacks in the past several years in Israel?
WALLACE: Well, Israeli officials say definitely. They say he has been involved and continued to coordinate terrorist activities. He was, again, the general director of a group called the Palestinian Liberation Front, and it is believed by Israeli officials that Iraq tried to funnel money through this group into the Palestinian territories to try to support and finance terrorist attacks.
It is also believed that this group served as a liaison to pass along that $25,000 which David mentioned to go to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, that that group basically served as a conduit between Iraq and to Palestinian families.
So Israelis believe Abu Abbas, very clearly, over the past few years was involved, although, Leon, we should point out that his group, the Palestinian Liberation Front, really isn't the biggest force when it comes to Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip and in Israel. Those other groups are really the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, those groups which have carried out suicide bombings against Israelis -- Leon.
HARRIS: Got it. Thanks, Kelly.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 16, 2003 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the Palestinian Authority is raising objections to the arrest of Abu Abbas. Let's get more on that angle from Jerusalem. Kelly Wallace checking in now. Hello, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. Well, that objection coming from a senior Palestinian minister, Saeb Erakat who says the arrest of Abu Abbas violates a 1995 agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians signed by the United States and other countries stemming from the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. David was mentioning it just a short time ago. This agreement, according to the Palestinians, stipulated that no Palestinian could be arrested for any violent acts committed before September 1993, when the Oslo Peace Accords were signed.
Saeb Erakat says that he got in touch today with American officials, and is calling for the immediate release of Abu Abbas. Palestinians are also saying that Abu Abbas was allowed by the Israelis and the United States to travel freely to Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip in the 1990s, including in 1996 and in 1998, and that he was never arrested.
Well, to all this, Israeli officials say that Abu Abbas was given a chance, in the words of one official, to mend his ways, but that he never did. Israeli officials say that Abu Abbas never renounced terrorism, and never fully supported Mideast peace, conditions they say also coming under that 1995 agreement. So Israelis are hailing this arrest of Abu Abbas, but quite a different story, Leon, from the Palestinians.
HARRIS: Yes -- and Kelly, we understand now the connection between the Oslo Accords and the sanction that was offered because of that agreement, so therefore, that most infamous event with which he has been associated, that Achille Lauro hijacking, that's off the table now. But is there any -- any thinking there in Israel that Abu Abbas has actually had some sort of link with any terrorist attacks in the past several years in Israel?
WALLACE: Well, Israeli officials say definitely. They say he has been involved and continued to coordinate terrorist activities. He was, again, the general director of a group called the Palestinian Liberation Front, and it is believed by Israeli officials that Iraq tried to funnel money through this group into the Palestinian territories to try to support and finance terrorist attacks.
It is also believed that this group served as a liaison to pass along that $25,000 which David mentioned to go to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, that that group basically served as a conduit between Iraq and to Palestinian families.
So Israelis believe Abu Abbas, very clearly, over the past few years was involved, although, Leon, we should point out that his group, the Palestinian Liberation Front, really isn't the biggest force when it comes to Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip and in Israel. Those other groups are really the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, those groups which have carried out suicide bombings against Israelis -- Leon.
HARRIS: Got it. Thanks, Kelly.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
