"KARINE A AFFAIR" DELAYS ZINNI'S RETURN TO ISRAEL

ICEJ NEWS - 01/16/2002
With Palestinian terrorists re-stoking the violent intifada against Israel, US special "security" envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni has been kept at home this week, with assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs William Burns coming to the region in his stead on Wednesday.

Since mid-December, Israel has experienced the quietest month since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000. However, the perceived drop in terrorism came to a violent end over the past week, with eight Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks since last Tuesday.

Burns will come to Israel instead of Zinni, who was slated to return to the region this week. American officials said Zinni was waiting for the outcome of the Israeli cabinet's current review of the government's relationship with the Palestinian Authority in the light of the "Karine A affair" - involving Israel's capture of a PA ship loaded with a huge cache of Iranian weapons being smuggled into Gaza.

In the latest developments on the Karine A, sources in US intelligence confirmed to the Washington Times that they provided Israel with "crucial" assistance in helping track down the freighter, which left Iranian waters on the way to the Suez Canal. Citing unnamed American intelligence officers, the newspaper said Israel approached the CIA last month with a request for help in locating a vessel carrying 50 tons of arms believed destined for the PA, which was seized by Israeli naval commandos in the Red Sea on January 3.

The paper reported that American intelligence agencies, using various high-tech intelligence gathering means, were able to identify the ship near Iran's Kish Island, about 11 miles (17.5 km) off the Iranian coast. The Karine-A was carrying long-range Katyusha rockets, anti-tank missiles, small arms and 3,000 pounds of high-grade explosives. Many of the weapons have been identified as coming from Iranian production facilities.

The London-based Arabic paper Al Hayat is also quoting US officials as saying Washington has evidence, independent from Israel, that shows Imad Mugniyah, the head of operations for Hizb'Allah, was involved in the Karine A weapons smuggling operation. This corroborates Israeli officials and the captured captain of the boat, who say a Hizb'Allah operative was on board assisting with loading the arms onto the vessel off Kish Island on the night of December 11.

In addition, an unnamed senior US official has stated that, "with this boat, whatever you want to say about [PLO chief Yasser] Arafat's involvement - it seems pretty clear that he knew something about it - the Iranian connection is not disputed by anybody."

The emerging Iran-Hizb'Allah-PA axis is to be included in a set of scheduled US-Israel talks on Iranian weapons acquisition this week in Tel Aviv. US officials say the topic of Iranian conventional and non-conventional weapons is even more pressing since the seizure of the Karine A arms shipment. US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton and 12 American diplomats will meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and others during the parleys.

Peres met today with a US congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, and said in reference to the Karine A, "This is not a love boat, but rather a ship of fools."

Meanwhile, Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Pique is also to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, and will meet Sharon and Peres. Pique began his regional tour with visits to Egypt and Jordan yesterday and called on Israel to allow Arafat to leave Ramallah, where he has been confined for the past six weeks.

"Arafat's freedom of movement is important for resuming the peace process," Pique said. He has also condemned Israel's recent house demolitions in Rafah.

ICEJ. Used with Permission.