Jul. 14, 2004 0:06 | Updated Jul. 14, 2004 15:05 Arafat: UN envoy Larsen not welcome in Ramallah By HERB KEINON
UN MIDEAST envoy Terje Roed-Larsen briefs Security Council members yesterday at UN headquarters in New York. Photo: AP
The United Nations' top envoy to the Middle East is no longer welcome in the Palestinian territories following his harsh criticism of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, an adviser to the PA chairman said Wednesday.
"Terje Roed-Larsen's statement is not objective. As of today he is an unwelcome person in Palestinian territories," Nabil Abu Rudeinah told the Reuters news agency, referring to remarks by the envoy at the United Nations Tuesday.
Meanwhile a the United Nations, Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian UN ambassador launched a scathing attack on Larsen for presenting "a completely distorted picture on the political front."
"The Palestinian Authority has serious problems, but I would say that this is the direct result of Israeli policies and Israeli actions," he said. "We have occupation. We have an occupying power that has been engaged on a daily basis in illegal activities, war crimes."
"It's strange for him to play the role of the cheerleader, basically, of Mr. Sharon," the Palestinian envoy said of Roed-Larsen, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Kidwa also criticized the UN envoy's support for Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and his failure to urge Israel to comply with the world court's advisory opinion calling for the destruction of the barrier it is building to seal off the West Bank.
As for peace, Kidwa warned that "there is no road map without a cessation of settlement activities and a cessation of the construction of the wall."
On Tuesday, UN Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen leveled rare public criticism of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat during a carefully balanced briefing to the Security Council.
"The PA, despite consistent promises by its leadership, has made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror, and to reform and reorganize the Palestinians Authority," Larsen said.
Larsen balanced this statement by adding that "the Israeli government has made no progress either on its core obligation to immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001 and to move towards a complete freeze of settlement activities."
Larsen said that "progress on the implementation of Palestinian reform continues to be slow, and cannot be explained except by the lack of political will to advance along that road."
Without mentioning Arafat by name, Larsen said "the President of the PA has lent only nominal and partial support to the commendable Egyptian efforts aimed at reforming the ailing Palestinian security services, consistent with the road map."
Larsen sad that "all those who yearn for peace have already and repeatedly urged President Arafat, in public and in private, to take immediate action to restore" the PA's diminished credibility. "Unfortunately," he said, "there is – so far – no sign of any of those measures being taken."
Israeli diplomatic officials, while expressing satisfaction with Larsen's statements, said they are a manifestation of a frustration with Arafat because his actions are keeping the UN and EU away from the diplomatic process.
The official said Arafat is a major stumbling block for the Europeans and the UN, because Israel will not give an active role in the diplomatic process to those who continue to deal with Arafat, which includes the EU and the UN.
The EU's frustration was evident at a press conference in Brussels Monday, during which Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said that "if Israel is not prepared to engage in dialogue in a satisfactory way with the European Union, then obviously the European Union must also consider possible consequences of that."
The Europeans should not threaten Israel, an Israeli official said, and "need to understand that if they want an active part in the process, they need to be more balanced."
Larsen was careful in his briefing to try and preserve a balance, opening his remarks by telling the tale of three-year-old Afik Zahavi-Ohayon and Mordechai Yosefov, 49, killed on June 28 by a Kassam rocket attack in Sderot, followed by the story of the killing of engineering professor Khaled Saleh and his 16-year-old son Muhammad during a gun battle near Nablus a week later.
Consistent with this almost symmetrical approach, Larsen's criticism of Arafat was followed by criticism of Israel. After talking about Arafat and the lack of Palestinian reform, Larsen said "Israel's lack of compliance on the sensitive issue of settlements is equally frustrating. Territory lies at the heart of this conflict."
Citing a Peace Now report of the growth of unauthorized settlement outposts, he said that "settlement expansion has to come to a complete stop."
