By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON-The State Department expressed concern yesterday over reports that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's loyalists are cooperating closely with Islamic militants in planning demonstrations that lead to bloody reprisals from Israeli forces.
At the same time, President Clinton said he believed Arafat has the ability to curb the violence that has swept the West Bank and Gaza and further dampened peace prospects. The threat of more chaos prompted the State Department to tell Americans not to visit Israel.
"I do think Chairman Arafat can dramatically reduce the level of violence," Clinton said outside the Oval Office before he left for New York to raise campaign money for his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is running for the Senate, and other Democratic candidates.
Participants in sessions to plan Palestinian demonstrations said Arafat loyalists were cooperating with anti-Israeli militants. Representatives of a dozen Palestinian groups, including the radical Islamic group Hamas and Arafat's Fatah faction, have been directing the protests through such decisions as setting times and places for street marches, said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader.
The violence and its suppression have claimed 127 lives, mostly Palestinian, in a month. The U.N. Security Council and the General Assembly have criticized Israel's forceful response to the violence. It was unclear whether the revelation of cooperation between the Arafat camp and the militants would alter the anti-Israel sentiment, which the United States virtually alone has sought to moderate.
In Congress, a resolution condemning Palestinians for the violence passed the House 365-30 yesterday. It expressed "solidarity with the state and people of Israel at this time of crisis" and condemned Palestinian leaders for "encouraging the violence and doing so little for so long to stop it."
"We need to pass this resolution to assure that the Congress of the United States sends a clear message in support of peace and the state of Israel," said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
Speaking in opposition, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., urged House members: "Ask yourself if that works for peace; if that enables us to function as honest brokers."
Responding to accounts of joint planning, Philip Reeker, a State Department spokesman, said, "We have seen these reports that have been out there in the press of various groups. The issue is one of serious concern to us, and we will continue to monitor that through our embassy and our consulate (in Israel)."
Reeker added, "The Palestinian Authority has obligations to carry out its commitments, particularly the fight against terrorism, and to apprehend, to prosecute and to bring to justice those involved in terrorist acts."
The State Department spokesman said terrorism suspects have been arrested and released, and the Palestinian Authority, responding to American inquiries, has "informed us that most of those released have been rearrested."
Clinton and the State Department demanded that both sides, Israel and the Palestinians, honor commitments made two weeks ago at an emergency summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, to curb the violence and look for ways to reopen stalled negotiations on an overall settlement.
Clinton, who forged that accord, said it must be implemented before productive peace negotiations between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak can be resumed.
In a 30-minute telephone conversation with Arafat, Clinton raised the possibility Tuesday that Arafat and Barak might come to Washington separately to talk to him.
The White House said both leaders are considering the offer.
Clinton admitted the route back to the negotiating table will be rocky.
"You just can't turn mass emotions on and off like, you know, you can a water tap. It's just not that simple," he said. "I think what we did at Sharm (el-Sheik) was to put at least a speed bump on the road to this dramatic deterioration of the situation."
But he said neither leader has total control over violence.
"I think there are some people within the Palestinian territories and probably some people within Israel that are not within total control of Chairman Arafat or even the Israeli government," he said.
After the call to Arafat, Clinton met with Jordan's King Abdullah in the White House to sign an accord that would remove all trade barriers between the two nations over the next 10 years. He also talked to Barak by telephone.
