April 12, 2002	Friday	Muharram 28, 1423

MADRID, April 11: The head of the international Red Cross federation issued an urgent appeal on Thursday to ensure the protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Juan Manuel Suarez, president of the international federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, spoke after returning from an Arab and an Israeli medical centre in the region, marked by Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns.

Suarez, who is Spanish, said the restrictions on movement imposed by the Israeli government had caused shortages of crucial medicines.

“Obviously, the situation is urgent,” Suarez said. “We want to make a call for the protection of civilians, whose conditions are deteriorating due to the restrictions on movement imposed in the occupied territories.

“People are beginning to lack even the most basic things: water, food, medicines, access to hospitals and medical centres. Sanitary conditions are deteriorating rapidly, with rubbish in the streets and that is very worrying from the point of view of possible epidemics,” he said.

Suarez said the task of both Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian workers had been made extremely difficult by attacks from both sides.

“Both sets of workers have been threatened, there have been terrorist acts, the destruction of ambulances, detentions of staff and the killing of doctors,” said Suarez, speaking on the sidelines of a United Nations conference on aging.

“This has made it difficult to do something we believe should be sacred: help the wounded,” he said.

Encho Gospodinov, permanent observer for the international federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent to the United Nations, described the situation in the occupied territories as a humanitarian crisis.

“We are highly concerned, to say the least, and we are preparing for an even greater emergency in the region,” Gospodinov said.

JORDAN MARCH: Jordan’s King Abdullah faces a potential challenge to his rule on Friday when opposition supporters march on the Israeli embassy despite government warnings force will be used to stop the rally.

Thousands of Jordan’s mostly Palestinian population have held demonstrations since Israel launched its military offensive in the West Bank.

The protests have resulted in at least one civilian death, looting and scores of arrests.

Under fire from critics at home for maintaining ties with Israel, King Abdullah said he was prepared to deal with potential instability and held publicized meetings with security officials.

“We will not allow national unity to be messed with. It is a red line,” the king said at an interior ministry meeting on Wednesday.

But Hamza Mansour, the head of the main Islamic Action Front, said the government did not realize the peaceful march on the Israeli embassy in Amman would enhance its standing.

“It is a constitutionally allowed and civilized action that reflects positively on Jordan and supports the Palestinian cause,” Mansour said.

The march will go ahea