Attorney General Edwin Meese vowed on Tuesday that the U.S. was “serious” about applying “the full weight of the law” to those who commit acts of terror, and called Yasir Arafat “ultimately responsible” for terrorist activity by factions of the PLO.
“We know that the various elements in the PLO and its allies and affiliates are in the thick of international terror, and the leader of the PLO — Yasir Arafat — must ultimately be held responsible for their actions,” Meese affirmed to resounding applause at a luncheon of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC was concluding its 27th annual policy conference in Washington.
Partly because of a new recognition of the threat that terrorism represents, he said, coordinated worldwide efforts to prevent its occurrence enabled the thwarting of 100 terrorist missions aimed against U.S. citizens abroad in 1985. Beyond the Administration’s preventative efforts, however, is its policy of “going after those who actively control … and sponsor the terrorists,” the Attorney General stressed.
“We are serious about applying the full weight of the law to indict, apprehend and prosecute those who commit terror against any citizens anywhere in the world,” Meese declared.
NO COMMENT ON CALL FOR ARAFAT’S ARREST
The Attorney General made no reference to ongoing efforts by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, and the National Jewish Coalition, as well as nearly half the Senate, to see a warrant issued by the Justice Department for Yasir Arafat’s arrest on charges of involvement in the murder of two Americans 13 years ago.
A letter signed by 44 Senators last February called on Meese to investigate allegations that Arafat was behind the 1973 assassination of U.S. Ambassador to Sudan Cleo Noel and Charge d’Affaires Curtis Moore in Khartoum, and to seek an indictment of the PLO leader if appropriate.
Most recently, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D.N.J.) and Charles Grassley (R. Iowa) sent the Attorney General a de-classified 1975 study conducted for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which asserts that the Khartoum operation “was approved by Yasir Arafat.”
But Meese stressed the importance of revising U.S. extradition treaties “so that people who commit (terrorist) crimes … cannot hide behind the loophole of claiming that these are political acts.” He also called for a death penalty for the taking of hostages, and for approval of a pending bill that would make terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens overseas a crime under American law.
CALLS FOR CLOSING EMBASSIES
In a speech at the same luncheon, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Binyamin Netanyahu, called for the closure of Embassies belonging to countries known to be sponsoring terrorism. In addition to Libya, Iran and South Yemen, who do not have Embassies in Washington, he referred specifically to Iraq, Syria and “some East bloc countries.”
“Without these Embassies you have a real problem conducting terrorism consistently, because terrorism needs safe ways to move funds and weapons to people,” Netanyahu said. Beyond economic and political sanctions, Netanyahu stressed the importance of the “military option” in the battle against international terror, even if it results in terrorist reprisals.
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