January 24, 2002	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 9, 1422

RAMALLAH, Jan 23: Voicing escalating tension in the Middle East, Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abed al Rahman said on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) no longer considers itself bound by commitments agreed with Israel.

“The responsibility for the recent deterioration and the attack in Jerusalem lies on the shoulders of (Israeli Premier Ariel) Sharon, who cannot blame anyone but himself,” Al Rahman told Voice of Palestine Radio.

Palestinians have reacted with outrage to large-scale incursions by the Israeli army into Palestinian autonomous cities on the West Bank over the past week.

In a further display of Israeli-Palestinian antagonism, Israeli Minister without Portfolio Danny Naveh said eliminating the Palestinian Authority and expelling Arafat was inevitable.

“Ultimately, there is no alternative to bringing Arafat’s rule to an end,” he told Israel Radio.

“Arafat is not a partner for peace... We do not have anyone on the other side, as much as we want to achieve peace,” he said.

In another development, Israeli Knesset (parliament) speaker Avraham Burg is to address the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah, despite massive opposition among hardline Israeli parties.

Burg, of the dovish Labour party, accepted a formal invitation from his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qrei (Abu Ala) in Paris on Wednesday.

Right-wing legislators threatened to force the Knesset speaker to resign if he went ahead with the address.

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer called on Israeli citizens to put pressure on their government.

“You’re the people and you’re the ones who choose the government. ... And they need to hear from you that younciliation, that you want reasonable compromise,” he told students of an Arab-Jewish college in the Israeli town of Givat Haviva.

Kurtzer denied reports the US would not send special envoy Anthony Zinni to the region for a third time, because ofin brokering a ceasefire, the radio said.—dpa