Israel Cabinet Official Weizman Deplores Execution of Wazir : Military Censors Editorial About Government Role

An Israeli Cabinet minister today criticized the slaying of PLO commander Khalil Wazir and the army censored a newspaper editorial about Israel’s reported role in the assassination as Wazir’s body was flown to Syria for burial.

Soldiers sealed off parts of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and clamped a curfew on 17 towns, cities and refugee camps for a third straight day to quell rioting in the occupied territories, the military said.

Nineteen Palestinians have been killed since Saturday’s slaying of Wazir, who was second in command to Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat.

Israeli sources have confirmed that Israeli commandos shot and killed Wazir at his home in a Tunis suburb. The nation’s leaders have so far refused to comment.

Cabinet Approval Reported

NBC television reported Monday that Mossad agents and naval and army commandos carried out the assassination, reaching their target by sea.

The report said the operation was approved at a Cabinet meeting last week, with two dissenters, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Cabinet Minister Ezer Weizman.

In an interview with Israel radio today, Weizman, a former defense minister, refused to comment on whether Israel conducted the assassination, but said:

“It doesn’t contribute to the fight against terrorism. In principle it creates more. It distances the peace process and will bring greater hostility and make us more vulnerable around the world.

“If I had to decide, I would decide against. That is all I’m willing to say,” Weizman added.

Editorial Censored

Israel’s military censor, meanwhile, took a rare step and censored an entire editorial by the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot daily which newspaper sources said dealt with Israel’s role in Wazir’s killing.

The editorial appeared as a blank white space with only a title that read: “They Are Silent But Speak.” Dov Yudkovsky, the newspaper’s editor, declined to comment on the action.

The army also barred distribution of a pro-PLO newspaper published in east Jerusalem, Al Fajr, for two weeks, because of an editorial about Wazir’s slaying that appeared in Monday’s edition, Israel radio reported.

Body Flown to Damascus

The body of Wazir was flown to Damascus today for burial in the Syrian capital in the absence of his lifetime comrade, Arafat.

The plane carrying Wazir’s body arrived in the Syrian capital at 2:45 p.m. local time after a flight from Tunisia.

Accompanying the body were Wazir’s wife, Intisar, his five children, and senior PLO officials.

Arafat, the PLO chief, saw the body off at Tunis airport but stayed behind, apparently because of his feud with President Hafez Assad of Syria. Arafat and Wazir were expelled from Damascus in June, 1983, after a Syrian-backed mutiny in PLO ranks.

The PLO chief’s media adviser, Bassam Abu Sharif, confirmed in a telephone interview with the Associated Press that Arafat would not attend Wazir’s funeral Wednesday.