Britain protests against Sharon call

Press, 22 July 1989, Page 11

Britain protests against Sharon call

NZPA-Reuter London Britain has protested to Israel over a call by the Right-wing Trade Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, for the elimination of the Palestine Liberation Organisation chief, Mr Yasser Arafat, a Foreign Office spokesman said. The Junior Foreign Minister, Mr William Waldegrave, who improved Britain’s relations with the P.L.O. last March by meeting Mr Arafat in Tunis, made the protest during a meeting with Israel’s military intelligence chief, Major-Gen-eral Amnon Shahak.

“Mr Waldegrave took advantage of the presence of the (Israeli) ambassador to protest at the recent statement attributed to Mr Sharon in which he called for the elimination of Mr Arafat,” the spokesman said.

Mr Waldegrave told Ambassador Yoav Biran, who accompanied Mr Shahak to the hour-long meeting at the Foreign Office, that he regarded such a call as “quite unacceptable.” The spokesman said: “Such incitements to violence are no answer to the problems of the

Middle East.” Commenting on the Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Mr Sharon said: “The most important thing is t 0... bring an end to terror and violence, to what is called here the

intifada, and to eliminate the heads of the terrorist organisations and first of all Arafat.” The spokesman said Mr Shahak, on a private visit to Britain, had requested the meeting with Mr Waldegrave, one of the most outspoken critics of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.