Arafat Signs Basic Rights Law

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Under pressure from Palestinians and Western governments, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat approved a law he had put off signing for five years that will form the basis for a Palestinian constitution, officials said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Israel continued with its roundup of suspected militants, with the first reported arrest of an Israeli Jew on charges of knowingly aiding a suicide bomber.

The government said security agents had arrested a Palestinian man and his Israeli wife, who allegedly drove the bomber to his target May 22. The attacker blew himself up in the Israeli city of Rishon Le Zion, killing two Israeli bystanders and injuring three dozen people.

The suspects were identified as Ibrahim Sarachne, 33, from the Dahaisha refugee camp next to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, and Russian-born Medina Pinsky, 26, who immigrated to Israel 11 years ago.

Military movements continued, with Israeli forces announcing that they had pulled out of Bethlehem after arresting 42 Palestinians.

The four-day operation there was an exception to the latest Israeli practice of almost nightly incursions into Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, most lasting only a few hours. In such a raid before daybreak in Hebron, Israel arrested four Palestinians.Witnesses said Israeli tanks also reentered the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin. In Nablus, dozens of armored vehicles took up positions around the Balata refugee camp, a base for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which claimed responsibility for recent suicide bombings. No casualties were immediately reported.

A curfew was imposed in Jenin.

The Basic Law was signed by Arafat on Tuesday, but Palestinian officials did not confirm the action until Thursday.

Among its main points are regular presidential elections, and a procedure to dismiss a president for wrongdoing; a ban on censorship or intimidation of news media; an independent judicial system; and a separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

It also declares Islam the official religion, bases Palestinian law on Islamic law and obligates the Palestinian Authority to provide for the families of “martyrs,” a reference to Palestinians killed in the conflict with Israel.

Until now, Arafat has ruled Palestinian areas almost autocratically, ignoring laws passed by the legislature and convening security courts that sometimes try, convict and sentence Palestinians in a single day.

Arafat signed the law amid increasing pressure. The Palestinian public has been expressing its dissatisfaction with his regime, and the United States and Europe have been calling for reforms.

A parade of diplomats headed to Ramallah on Thursday to press those concerns. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns was the first to see Arafat. Afterward, Burns expressed support for negotiations that would result in a Palestinian state and backed “Palestinian efforts to build strong institutions,” a reference to the call for reforms.