US lawmakers call for sanctions against Arafat, PLO

WASHINGTON: US House lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled a bipartisan bill calling for sanctions to be slapped on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization for their "recent acts of terrorism" against Israel.


"The legislation we've introduced condemns in no uncertain terms the violence that is supported and funded by Yasser Arafat and the PLO," bill sponsor Representative Bill Blunt said in a statement.


The Arafat Accountability Act, he said, "sends a strong message that the US will neither tolerate nor ignore Arafat's blatant refusal to work for the peace he says he seeks." "It's time to trade in our all-carrot and no-stick policy. It doesn't work," agreed Representative Gary Ackerman at a press conference held to introduce the bill.