April 26, 2002	Friday	Safar 12, 1423

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, April 25: Two US trucks delivering food, toys and tents to the Jenin refugee camp were turned away by an angry crowd on Thursday in protest against Washington’s military aid to the Israeli army, Jenin’s parliamentarian said.

“The camp’s inhabitants are refusing help provided by the US because of its foreign policy concerning the Palestinian question and because the camp was destroyed by US-made weapons,” Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member for Jenin, Jamal al-Shaati, said.

The aid was sent by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), whose trucks bore its emblem as well as the US flag.

A large crowd of camp’s residents, including representatives of all political factions there, threw the goods back into the trucks after they had been unloaded at the camp’s entrance, Shaati said. The trucks were then forced to leave.

USAID officials in Tel Aviv said they were not aware of the incident.

The refugee camp in the northern West Bank was devastated by the Israeli army’s invasion in search of hardline groups.

UN mission: EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he expected a resolution soon to a dispute between Israel and the United Nations over a UN mission looking into the Israeli army’s assault on the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin.

Israeli envoys were due to meet UN officials in New York to seek assurances about the mission that was appointed last week to look into events at Jenin, scene of some of the fiercest fighting during Israel’s offensive.—AFP