TEL AVIV, Jan 7: The row over a ship laden with arms allegedly bound for Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority deepened on Monday as Israeli television broadcast an interview with the vessel’s Palestinian captain, who pointed the finger at associates of the Palestinian leader.
The furore over the capture of the ship last Thursday, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s branding of Arafat a “bitter enemy,” overshadowed the departure of US special envoy Anthony Zinni, who said he saw signs of progress in the region.
Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said the discovery of more than 50 tons of military hardware stashed in waterproof containers for a covert landing called for a change of Israel’s stance against Arafat’s administration.
The Palestinian Authority denied any knowledge of the shipment. The incident has set tensions simmering again after three weeks of calm.
But a damning testimony against Arafat emerged on Monday as Israeli television stations released excerpts of an interview with the ship’s Palestinian captain, now in Israeli custody.
Omar Akawi, 44, a colonel in the Palestinian naval police, said: “I got my instructions from Adel Mugrabi, Fathi Al Razem — both are close to Arafat.”
Adel Mugrabi is the Palestinian chief of weapons procurement, while Fathi Al Razem is the deputy commander of the Palestinian naval force.
“On the ship were six Palestinians and six people from different Arab countries working as navigators. They are now all in Israeli jails,” he said, adding that he did not know the origin of the weapons.
“The ship was loaded near an island called Kish close to Iran,” he said. The course was through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, “where three small ships would carry the weapons to Gaza port,” he added.
“I am proud of what I have done because we (the Palestinians) are at war and we have the right to defend ourselves,” Akawi said.
Iran repeated its denial of any involvement in the affair, with a foreign ministry spokesman calling the Israeli accusations “false and contradictory.”
One possible crack in Israel’s version of events emerged when the London-based Lloyd’s list said it appeared the ship was probably Iraqi-owned, rather than belonging to the Palestinians, as Israel charged.
It said it was unlikely, but not impossible, that an Iraqi-owned vessel would be shipping Iranian arms. However, the paper said the ship could have changed hands since being bought by an Iraqi national, or the shipment could have been a purely business affair.
SIGN OF ATTACK: The West Bank leader of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement accused Israel on Monday of using the seizure of a large arms shipment to foil a US truce mission and increase attacks on the Palestinian leadership.
Marwan Barghuti said the capture of 50 tons of weapons last week was an “Israeli attempt to foil General Anthony Zinni’s mission.”
Meanwhile, Jordan’s government spokesman on Monday dismissed Israel’s accusations that an arms ship it seized in the Red Sea was carrying weapons for the Palestinians as “a farce”.
EU MEETS: European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana met Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday in a new bid to end 15 months of violence after Zinni envoy left the region without a breakthrough.
Solana conferred with Zinni shortly before the former Marines Corps general ended a four-day visit.—AFP/Reuters