Arafat receives Israeli ultimatum

Israel today renewed its ultimatum to Yasser Arafat; arrest the assassins of an Israeli Cabinet Minister or remain grounded.

The standoff took on new importance with the approach of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem on Sunday.

Eleven members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, will be part of a delegation accompanying Arafat to Bethlehem for Orthodox Christmas.

Since Bethlehem was handed to Palestinian control in 1995, Arafat, a Muslim, has attended both Western and Orthodox Christmas celebrations every year to underscore Palestinian unity.

However, Israel barred him from Bethlehem on December 24th, despite worldwide criticism, and said it would do so again unless he arrested the leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction that claimed responsibility for the October assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.

Israeli Cabinet Secretary, Gideon Starr says that the members of the PFLP are in Ramallah, a short distance from Arafat’s headquarters.