1. PRIME MINISTER SHARON ARRIVES IN U.S. FOR TALKS… Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has arrived in the United States where he will hold talks with senior American officials, including President George W. Bush. Monday’s schedule will include meetings with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. It was Rice who kicked off the current friction between the two nations over the issue of the security fence that Israel is building in order to deny easy access to terrorists seeking to infiltrate. On Tuesday, Sharon will visit the President at the White House. It is believed that Mr. Bush himself will continue to press the fence issue in addition to discussing progress on the “Road Map for Peace.” Mr. Sharon brings with him a number of measures that he will argue boosts the prestige of Mahmoud ‘Abbas, the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister, and demonstrates Israel’s commitment to the plan. Prominent among these is the planned release this week of more than five hundred Palestinian security prisoners who are members of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Sharon forced approval for that controversial list through his cabinet just before his departure from Israel.
2. CONTROVERSY GROWS OVER PRISONER RELEASE… The issue of Ariel Sharon’s release of prisoners who are members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah, and who were tried and convicted for participation in terrorist activities, remains a source of controversy. While some critics of the Prime Minister argue that it is illogical to consider anyone who is directly linked to an act of terror as being free of “blood on their hands” — foremost among criteria set by the administration – others argue that releasing prisoners who were duly tried and convicted perverts the rule of law. Such candidates for release will require a presidential pardon in order to be set free. Included on the list of those who will be turned over to the Palestinian Authority this week are 210 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad; 210 members of Yassir Arafat’s Fatah; and 120 Palestinians who were jailed for criminal offenses.
3. DOUBLE SUICIDE BOMB ATTEMPT THWARTED… The Shin Bet security agency says it thwarted an attempt to send two female suicide bombers into Israel this past weekend. The tip came through the interrogation of a recently arrested member of the Al-Aq’sa Martyrs Brigade, who revealed that the plot was planned by one of Yassir Arafat’s Fatah members who is being hidden by Arafat in the Muqata’a, his Ramallah office complex. The Shin Bet says that it turned the information over to the Palestinian Authority, but that the PA refused to take any action. The PA denied that it received the information. The two women bombers were to go to separate night clubs in Tel Aviv or Netanya during the weekend, when clubs are filled. There have been a number of other reports of terror activities coordinated and launched from the security of Yassir Arafat’s compound.
4. HIZBULLAH LEADER THREATENS KIDNAPPING OF ISRAELIS… Sheikh Hasan Na’srallah, leader of the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization, said on Sunday that unless Israel agrees to a prisoner-swap, his group would, “work day and night to have in our possession new Israeli captives.” Hizbullah is believed responsible for the fate of four Israelis: three soldiers who were captured in September 2000, and a businessman who was kidnapped in October of that year. The soldiers have been declared dead by the army’s chief rabbi even though there is no absolute confirmation of their deaths. The businessman, Elhanan Tennenbaum, is believed to be alive but in poor health. Hizbullah has refused to provide any information on his condition.
5. SECURITY SOURCES: PROGRESS IN SEARCH FOR MISSING SOLDIER… Security sources said on Sunday that progress had been made during the day in the search for a soldier who has been missing since last Monday and who is believed to have been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists. Due to a gag order imposed on the case, however, the sources would not say what that progress is. Hundreds of volunteers have joined the search for Oleg Shaihat. Last week, Shaihat’s mother issued an appeal and offered a reward for information about her son, but family sources report that there has been no response.
6. CHRISTOPHER REEVE DUE IN ISRAEL TODAY… Actor Christopher Reeve will arrive in Israel today for a five-day stay, the dual purpose of which is to provide encouragement to an Israeli who was paralyzed in a suicide bombing and to see Israel’s achievements in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Mr. Reeve, who is paralyzed from the neck down, corresponded with Elad Wassa, and will now visit the Ethiopian immigrant in his home.