US promoting strife in Mideast, Fatah claims

The US is aiding Israeli Prime Minister-elect Mr Ariel Sharon and seeking to perpetuate Arab disharmony, a senior member of the…

The US is aiding Israeli Prime Minister-elect Mr Ariel Sharon and seeking to perpetuate Arab disharmony, a senior member of the Palestinian Fatah movement has claimed.

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No agreement will be respected without active resistance on the ground
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Marwan Bargouthi

"The Americans want to maintain the disunion between Arab nations and to hide what the Israelis are perpetrating here," Fatah's West Bank leader Mr Marwan Bargouthi told

La Croix

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US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell during a tour of the region over the weekend called for the Palestinian violence to cease, Mr Bargouthi said.

"As if you can compare the violence perpetrated by the Israeli army with our resistance," he said.

"Our experience of the negotiations shows that we will receive no benefit, that no agreement will be respected without active resistance on the ground," he said.

Mr Marwan has been accused by Israel of running an armed organisation called Tanzim and orchestrating the mass protests directed against Israeli troops and settlers.

AFP