US envoy meets Palestinian negotiators
A U.S. truce envoy pressed ahead with his mission today amid new Israeli charges that the Palestinian Authority is engaged in terrorism and tried to smuggle 50 tons of Iranian-made rockets and other weapons into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians vehemently denied links to the shipment.
The New York Times today quoted senior U.S. officials as saying there was no evidence at this time that the weapons were intended for the Palestinians, and that a more likely recipient was the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.
The U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, said that on Sunday, he would chair a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security officials in hopes of nudging both sides closer to a U.S.-drafted truce deal.
‘‘I’m hopeful. I’m encouraged,’’ Zinni said today after meeting Palstinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in the West Bank town of Jericho.
Zinni’s four-day mission ends on Monday. Palestinian officials said the U.S. envoy was to return to the region on January 18 to evaluate progress.
Zinni has said he would make frequent trips to the Middle East in the coming weeks.
Israeli officials were skeptical today about prospects for a formal truce, saying the interception of the weapons shipment has bolstered suspicions that the Palestinian Authority was preparing for a new round of armed confrontation with Israel.
Israel announced on Friday that it intercepted the 4,000-ton cargo ship Karine A. loaded with 50 tons of rockets, anti-tank missiles, mines and mortars. The vessel was seized in the Red Sea, hundreds of miles from Israel’s shores.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has agreed to conduct an investigation and asked U.S. officials to join it, his aides said.
In a meeting with Arafat on Friday, Zinni ‘‘expressed our strong condemnation of any attempt to escalate the conflict in the region by militant groups or others,’’ said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Israel said the vessel had been bought by the Palestinian Authority, and that the captain and three crew members belonged to the Palestinian naval police.
A Hezbollah member was also aboard, officials said. However, they would not provide details, when pressed, on the alleged links to the Palestinian Authority.
