Palestinians Accuse U.S. of Blackmail in Bomber Hunt

[drdon326]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040204/wl_nm/mideast_palestinians_usa_dc

Yasser Arafat's security adviser on Wednesday accused the United States of blackmailing the Palestinian Authority over the hunt for the killers of three Americans in the Gaza Strip last October.

U.S. officials have been stopped from going to Gaza since the Oct. 15 roadside bomb attack on a diplomatic vehicle, making it more difficult to assist aid programs for the Palestinians.


"The Americans stopped their involvement waiting for the results (of our investigation). This is blackmail," security adviser Brigadier Jibril Rajoub told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "I think the Americans are using this ... isolated case in order not to be involved, in order to blackmail the Palestinian Authority."


The United States dismissed the accusation, reiterated its commitment to the peace process and its aid programs and complained the Palestinians could do more to arrest the killers of the three security guards.

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how TF is it "blackmail" to demand the palestinians find the persons
responsible for murder??

the pa....the clown college of responsible government.

[tinnypriv]

1. To let the facts intrude:

The US took the decision to wind down involvement and stop the visits of envoy Wolf to the region before the bombing.

Before Oct 3 at least, as was prominently reported in Israel.

[drdon326]

2. And some more facts:

PA INVESTIGATOR OF GAZA BOMBING ITS LIKELY PERPETRATOR - SHURAT HADIN WARNS

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=19198

Israel Law Center Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner has
written to United States Attorney General John Ashcroft alerting him to the
fact the Palestinian Security Service commander assigned to investigate the
October bombing attack on American personnel in Gaza was very likely the
terrorist who planned it.

Gaza Commander Col. Rashid Abu Shabak's has been entrusted by the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and the United States Federal Bureau of
Investigation with hunting down the terrorist cell responsible for the
October 15, 2003 bombing which left three Americans dead.

The three Americans, John Branchizio, 37, of Texas, John Linde Jr., 30, of
Missouri, and Mark Parsons, 31, of New Jersey, were security personnel
guarding a convoy of diplomatic vehicles which was attacked by Palestinian
Arab terrorists who detonated a powerful roadside bomb at the Beit Hanoun
junction in Gaza. The Americans were visiting Gaza to interview candidates
for Fulbright scholarships.

Darshan-Leitner's letter accuses the Palestinian commander of being the
mastermind behind numerous terror attacks perpetrated by Yasser Arafat's
Fatah organization in Gaza. Shurat HaDin urges the Department of Justice to
investigate Abu Shabak's involvement in prior roadside bombings.

Not surprisingly, there have been no arrests made by the Palestinians in the
current investigation.

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[GabysPoppy]

3. That is just like

O.J. looking for the killers of his wife.

[drdon326]

4. LOL

That may explain why there have been no arrests made by the Palestinians.

[tinnypriv]

5. Nothing to do with what I said

Rajoub is correct that the U.S. is using the bombing on Oct 15 as an excuse to avoid having to admit the truth that it decided to "Deep Freeze" the Roadmap for domestic political and foreign Iraqi reasons, before that date (before Oct 3, as I said, only repeating Israeli senior analyst claims).

Who the killers of the Gaza convoy are, and whether the PA is doing anything to catch them is of course a separate topic, which I have noted in the past (to you).

Regardless, it is a minor story, and not something peace activists should be particularly focused on, in my opinion. Especially so since the PA taking a stand of non-cooperation in the investigation would only be roughly equivalent to the practices of the Zionist authorities (pre-state).