Arafat facing growing pressure

Powell said Arab nations were giving Arafat "suggestions" on what to do

BUCHAREST, Romania -- European and Arab nations are ratcheting up pressure on Yasser Arafat to deal severely with Palestinian terrorist groups, Secretary of State Colin Powell said.

Powell supported Israel's right to defend itself as Israeli forces launched fresh attacks on targets in Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinian suicide bombers killed 25 people at the weekend promptings the Israel Government to call Arafat's Palestinian Authority a "terrorist-supporting entity."

Powell was speaking after discussions with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on the fringes of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting.

Powell said: "I made it clear to (Arafat) that he had to respond to the seriousness of this attack against Israel and against him and against the process we're trying to get started."

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He had earlier said the suicide strikes were also an attack on Arafat's authority as leader of the Palestinian people.

Arafat has said he is cooperating with the Israelis, noting that Palestinian security forces arrested two Hamas leaders on Sunday, as well as dozens of other members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad following the weekend bombings.

Arafat also told CNN's Rula Amin he arrested 11 more Monday night, after Israel began its air strikes.

Peres said: "We call upon him (Arafat) to be responsible for the destiny of the Palestinians because if the Palestinians will be divided, time and time again, into different armed groups, they will be able to do nothing really."

He added that the arrests Arafat had already made were not enough to prevent further attacks.

But Peres's Labor Party is also at odds with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after Labor members of the ruling coalition refused to take part in the vote condemning the Palestinian Authority for the terrorism.

After his meeting with Powell, Peres made no mention of his differences with Sharon.

Peres is scheduled to return to Israel on Tuesday night, where he will consult with his Labor Party about a call for unity issued by Sharon to his coalition government.

Powell has also confirmed that U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni would be "staying in the area" despite the latest violence, which has dimmed hopes for peace.

Some Israelis in Jerusalem shouted for Zinni to go home as he toured the sites of Saturday's suicide bombings.

The rash of violence in the Middle East was to share, with Afghanistan, the agenda at the OSCE meeting.

The body includes all the nations of Europe, the United States, Canada and all the former Soviet republics. It was Powell's first stop on an eight-day, 10-nation trip to Europe and central Asia.

Powell told reporters that Arab leaders in the Middle East were also giving Arafat "suggestions" as to what steps he might take to demonstrate he is making a 100 percent effort to end the violence.

He refused to elaborate on what the suggestions might have been. But the Bush administration has made no secret of its desire for Arafat to arrest all known terrorists including members of Hamas and the Palestinian Egyptian Jihad.

Powell said that the United States, and leaders of both Europe and Arab nations were appealing to Arafat "to use all of his influence, all of his authority, all of his prestige, to bring these terrorist elements under control.

"This is now not just an attack against Israel and innocent Israeli citizens, it is an attack against his very authority as the leader of the Palestinian people and as the leader of the Palestinian authority," Powell said.