Arafat orders officials detained in arms probe

By Rula Amin
CNN

GAZA (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat ordered several people detained Friday, including three Palestinian officials, for questioning in the authority's investigation of the arms shipment intercepted in the Red Sea by the Israelis last week.

A statement from the Palestinian Authority Friday said it had formed a committee to investigate the weapons ship and was interrogating several people in connection with the investigation.

One of those detained, Fuad al-Shobaky, is in charge of administration and finance for Palestinian security. He has already been questioned.

The authority also ordered Palestinian officials Fathi al Razem and Adel al Mouragabi detained and questioned, along with several other Palestinians whose names were not given in the statement.

Nabil abu Rudieneh, a close adviser to Arafat, said al Razem and al Mouragabi were out of the country but would be detained when they returned.

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Rudieneh insisted the authority itself was not involved with the shipment. He said Arafat signed an order for the detention of all people "whose names have come up" in connection with the shipment.

Rudieneh said the detentions did not signify any guilt but were a part of a Palestinian investigative committee's work.

The names were supplied by the Israelis, who intercepted the ship and questioned its commander.

In a speech Thursday night, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would halt all contact, except for security meetings, with the Palestinian Authority until Arafat arrests those responsible for the shipment.

The Palestinian Authority's investigative committee appealed to Israel to furnish all information it has about the shipment. It asked the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia to help in the matter.

The committee also invited those countries and groups to participate as part of the investigative process and said it would inform them of the conclusions of the probe as soon as there are any.

The United States, saying there is "credible evidence" of Palestinian Authority involvement in the arms shipment, has called on Arafat to provide an explanation.

Israeli forces intercepted the ship, the Karine-A, last Thursday in the Red Sea about 300 miles south of the Israeli port of Eilat.

Israel said the ship was carrying 50 tons of weapons and explosives -- enough to imperil every city in Israel. It said the weapons originated in Iran.