Home | China | World | Business Egypt Blasts Israel's Decision Not to Lift Blockade on Arafat MON, FEB 25, 2002     Egypt on Sunday lashed out at Israel's decision not to lift its blockade on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying that such an Israeli move broke its promises on the matter. "The move means that Israel has backtracked on what Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had promised that if the killers of the then Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi were caught, the blockade on Arafat would be cancelled immediately," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said, quoted by the official MENA news agency. Maher termed the decision as Israel's pursuit of its aggressive policy against the Palestinians and their leadership, saying that such a move was designed to undermine any progress which would help resume political negotiations to reach a just settlement of the Palestine issue. "The move also shows that Israel continues to undermine any possibility to build confidence, and confirms its insistence to adopt policies which defy all the efforts to ease the situation and resume serious work for peace," he said. Earlier in the day, the Israeli security cabinet decided not to allow Arafat to leave the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he has been under a virtual house arrest since December 3 last year. The meeting was convened after the Palestinian side arrested suspects in the murder of Ze'evi, who was assassinated by Palestinian gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) last October. Israel has claimed that Arafat would not be allowed to leave Ramallah until the assassins are arrested. Editor:Zhong Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved