Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990 TAG: 9003202480
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Medium
Carter, who is on a three-day visit to Israel, also said the 27-month Arab uprising "is being perpetuated partially by the abuse of the Palestinians."
After meeting with representatives of Arab and Jewish human-rights organizations, Carter told reporters, "There is hardly a family that lives in the West Bank and Gaza that has not had one of its male members actually incarcerated by the military authorities."
He criticized the military for holding 9,000 Palestinians in prisons, and he described 1,000 of the captives as "prisoners of conscience," among them writers and journalists.
"There have been about 650 Palestinians killed by excessive use of firearms by the military that are not under life-threatening situations," he said, "and they are still demolishing homes and still putting people in prison without charges."
There was no immediate official reaction to Carter's criticism from the Israeli army or the government.
Two Palestinian youths were shot dead by troops in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the first Arabs to die in clashes with soldiers there since Feb. 25.
Carter came to Israel after a brief visit to Syria, where he said President Hafez Assad authorized him to tell Israeli leaders that Syria was willing to open peace talks and was especially interested in negotiating the future of the Golan Heights.
Israel captured the Syrian plateau during the 1967 war and annexed it in 1982.
The news of Assad's offer brought a range of reactions Monday.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, in the midst of a battle to form a new government, declared that Israel had no intention of giving up the Golan Heights. Other right-wing legislators introduced urgent motions in Parliament to reaffirm Israel's control over the Golan Heights.
But later Monday evening, career officers in the Foreign Ministry, who seemed removed from the political fray, said Israel would be happy to open negotiations with Syria.
But they offered no specific proposals, and it did not appear likely that talks would begin soon.
As Labor and Likud struggled to gain enough parliamentary support to establish a new government, several religious parties announced their positions Monday.
With those developments, the coalition-forming process has apparently reached a 60-60 tie between Labor and Shamir's party, Likud.
by CNB