Frustrated Palestinians blame Arab world

CAIRO: A top Palestinian official lashed out Sunday at Arab foreign ministers for failing to take an aggressive stance against Israel’s 10-day military offensive in the West Bank, during an emergency meeting on the crisis.

Palestinian parliamentary speaker Ahmed Qorei, who was interviewed on Egyptian television, said the Arab foreign ministers had attempted “to postpone taking any effective decisions to stop the Israeli aggression” during their meeting in Cairo late Saturday.

“The foreign ministers did not take the measures need to stop the Israeli massacres,” especially in the West Bank towns of Jenin and Nablus, Qorei said, where Israel troops have been in high-pitched battles with Palestinian gunmen.

He added that the arrival of US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Israel at the end of the week offered “more time for new Israeli massacres.”

The Arab ministers had issued a call late Saturday for an immediate session of the UN Security Council, regarding Israel’s deadly blitz that has left Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat under siege in Ramallah. The top diplomats instructed ambassadors in New York to push for a meeting of the UN Security Council to try to obtain a binding resolution to stop the Israeli offensive and protect the Palestinians.