Israeli cabinet on alert after murder

JERUSALEM - Israel has placed its cabinet on high alert after suspected Palestinian gunmen assassinated right-wing, anti-Arab cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi last night.

Zeevi was shot three times in the head and the neck at the door to his room in the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem about 6 pm New Zealand time.

He was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital but was declared dead three hours later.

The radical Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) group said that it shot Zeevi in retaliation for the assassination of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa by Israeli forces in August.

"The Israeli Government, by killing Abu Ali Mustafa, has opened the gates of hell on itself and now the fire is approaching it," PFLP spokesman Ali Jaradat said.

Israeli television said all cabinet ministers had been ordered to stay at home or to go to "secure areas".

Zeevi, aged 75, tendered his resignation from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet on Tuesday. His death deals a serious blow to United States-led peace efforts.

Mr Sharon told aides after the killing that "everything has changed".

He decided to rescind steps to ease a blockade on Palestinian areas, said an Israeli political source.

Right-wing Israelis had expressed dismay at Sharon's decision this week to ease the blockade and to withdraw troops from some recently captured Palestinian-ruled areas.

Police said Zeevi's wife found him in critical condition outside his hotel room. Israel Radio said he had no pulse when rescue workers arrived at the scene.

Police did not give the identity or nationality of the gunmen but said they were hunting for them. Israeli radio said there had been two.

Zeevi had taken vehemently anti-Arab positions in his 13 years in Parliament and had pushed for a "transfer" policy to move Palestinians out of the country.

He opposed Israeli-Palestinian interim peace agreements.

Zeevi, a father of five, had an illustrious military career and served as a general in several branches of the Israeli Army.

He joined the broad left-right coalition formed by Sharon in March after his election as Prime Minister in February.

Zeevi tendered his resignation as Tourism Minister with the far-right National Union and Yisrael Beitenu bloc because of differences with Sharon over the handling of the year-old Palestinian uprising.

More than 800 people have been killed since the uprising began, including at least 626 Palestinians and 175 Israelis.

%The two sides are under fierce pressure from the US to end the fighting, which Washington believes is an obstacle to Arab support for the global anti-terror coalition it has sought to form since last month's attacks. Violence has continued despite high-level ceasefire talks on September 26.

Three members of the militant Islamic group Hamas have been killed in the past three days.

Hamas, which has spearheaded a campaign of suicide bombings against Israel, blamed the Jewish state for all three deaths.

Israel said it shot dead a militant on Monday but did not confirm it was responsible for the other two deaths in explosions on Tuesday and yesterday.

- REUTERS

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