(Washington Post) Glenn Kessler - U.S. officials said Tuesday that months of fruitless discussions with Palestinian officials to bolster security to protect U.S. and British monitors at the Jericho prison left them no choice but to abandon the facility. The "situation really, truly was becoming untenable," said a senior administration official. The U.S. and Britain delivered a tough letter to Abbas a week ago warning they would immediately terminate the 2002 agreement to monitor the Jericho prison - part of a deal that ended an Israeli siege on Arafat's compound in Ramallah where the men were hiding - unless he took steps to improve security. A senior State Department official said it appeared the letter to Abbas did not get the "high level of attention it deserved" from the Palestinians. He said Assistant Secretary of State C. David Welch raised the problem in a meeting with Abbas during a trip to the West Bank on Feb. 25.
2006-03-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive