Arafat: Any officials tied to arms ship will be punished

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Tuesday if any Palestinian Authority officials are involved in an arms shipment intercepted by Israel, they will be punished, but said he did not believe any were.

The Palestinian Authority announced Monday it was forming a commission to look into the seizure of the Karine-A, a ship stopped last week in the Red Sea loaded with arms.

At a news conference after a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Arafat said, ''I have informed Mr. Solana with our decision to form an internal investigative committee to investigate what the Israelis are claiming regarding the ship issue. ...

"There is no doubt that if it appears that anyone from the [Palestinian Authority] is involved, and we don't think so, then we will certainly question and punish them. ''

Arafat also affirmed the Palestinians' full commitment to the peace process. The Palestinian leader has come under increasing pressure from the United States, Israel and Europe to crack down on terrorists in territory under Palestinian control since a string of suicide attacks against Israelis began in early December.

The terror bombings prompted the Israeli Cabinet to cut ties with Arafat and sanction retaliatory strikes in the West Bank and Gaza.

Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rudieneh said the conclusions of the authority's investigation into the arms ship will be turned over to U.S. and European officials.

The findings so far are "deeply troubling," a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.

The Israeli government has accused the Palestinian Authority of being behind the 50 tons of arms being shipped, which included Katyusha rockets, rifles, mortar shells, mines and a variety of anti-tank missiles. The ship was captured Thursday in the Red Sea about 300 miles south of the Israeli port of Eilat.

The Palestinian Authority has denied any involvement in the arms shipment, saying Israel is trying to use the incident to thwart efforts by U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni. A retired Marine Corps general , Zinni is trying to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinians.

The captain of the ship, who was arrested by Israel, told reporters Monday he worked for the Palestinian Authority and that the shipment was to be delivered to the Palestinians. But he said he did not believe any Palestinian Authority leaders were aware of his mission.

He said he took his orders from a Palestinian Authority official in Greece.

U.S. looking for 'more information'

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Meanwhile, a member of Israel's security cabinet said Tuesday that the ship was carrying more than 3,000 pounds of plastic explosives and rockets that would have imperiled every city in Israel.

Meir Sheetrit, Israel's justice minister, emerged from a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and told reporters he hoped the United States would issue a stronger condemnation of the shipment "in the next few days."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday that the United States has been given evidence that shows the Palestinian Authority was behind the shipment.

"The (U.S.) government knew all the details," Sharon said. "It was known to them that the Palestinian Authority paid millions of dollars. Payments of this nature are authorized only by Yasser Arafat."

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States considers "the fact that there are Palestinians involved in shipping these weapons deeply troubling."

The United States has not yet seen all of the evidence in the case, Boucher said. Israeli security officials planned to present additional information Wednesday, and the United States also expected "a full explanation" from Arafat, he said.

"The information that we have so far, including the statements that ... the Palestinian commander made, do raise very deep concerns, and we find them troubling," Boucher said. "We found this incident serious, and of serious concern right from the beginning, and that's why Gen. Zinni raised it right away with Chairman Arafat."