MIDDLE EAST: The Palestinian captain of a weapons-laden ship seized last week by Israeli commandos, said in an interview from his prison cell yesterday that a Palestinian Authority official in Greece had dispatched him to bring the ship through the Red Sea to Palestinian-controlled shores.
Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, vowed that in the wake of the weapons-smuggling episode, Israel would have to fundamentally review its relations with the authority.
Capt Omar Acawi, who is being held in a prison in southern Israel, said he had served as an officer in the Palestinian Navy, and that he had embarked on the mission to help the Palestinians contend with Israel's military might.
Capt Acawi gave the interview to Israeli television and the Fox News Channel. Israel has pointed to Iranian involvement in the weapons ship - laden with long-range Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles - and has said it was registered to and bound for the Palestinian Authority.
Both the Iranians and the Palestinians have denied any involvement, dismissing the charges as "propaganda".
The specialist shipping newspaper Lloyd's List, yesterday said the ship was registered in the name of an Iraqi national, who had bought it from a Lebanese shipping company.
With ships often registered through offshore registries, however, it is often difficult to accurately ascertain ownership. The feud over the Karine A, has dogged the latest truce mission by US envoy, Mr Anthony Zinni, who left the region yesterday after a four-day visit. Mr Zinni attended a joint Israeli-Palestinian security meeting yesterday, but again flew back to the US without getting the two sides to agree to a formal cease-fire.
Mr Sharon, who labelled Mr Arafat an "arch-terrorist" after the weapons ship was intercepted, said yesterday he would soon convene the government to review Israel's relationship with the Palestinian Authority. After a series of deadly Palestinian attacks last month, Mr Sharon's cabinet labelled the Palestinian leader "irrelevant," but the Israeli Prime Minister has said this does not preclude contacts with his authority.
Senior Israeli defence sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said yesterday that in the wake of Mr Arafat's weapons-smuggling endeavour, the government should declare the Palestinian Authority an "enemy." But some senior ministers, particularly those from the centre-left Labour Party, cautioned against severing all ties with Mr Arafat's Authority.
Most outspoken was Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres, who warned against demonising Mr Arafat, as Mr Sharon has done - a move he said would split the international anti-terrorism alliance built since September 11th.
"We would like to have a united front, worldwide, that stands against terror," Mr Peres said. "If, instead of choosing terror as the target, we shall choose Arafat, we shall never have a united front. . . he will have immediately the support of the Arab bloc, the Muslim bloc, the non-aligned bloc, and many European countries."