World News 09-10-2000 Israel On Brink Of War who: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak what: Gives peace ultimatum to Arafat where: Israel when: Yesterday snippet: "The entire Middle East is bracing itself for the expiry tonight of an Israeli-imposed peace ultimatum," reports The Independent, "amid fears that the region could be engulfed in war". Following eleven days of protests in which 84 people - including several children - have died, prime minister Ehud Barak has given the Palestinians until tonight to end their violence or face the consequences. Meanwhile, the Palestinians have "declared a popular war against the Israelis," reports Sam Kiley in The Times. "Fatah, the armed wing of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, ordered the intifada or uprising against Israel to be intensified." "Less than three months after Mr Barak and Mr Arafat came closer than any leaders before to achieving a lasting peace, seven years of negotiating effort were unravelling at dizzying speed," says The Guardian`s Suzanne Goldenberg. "As the situation worsened, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook yesterday gave his backing to a UN resolution that effectively blames Israel for the upsurge in violence," reports The Mirror. America abstained from the UN Security Council vote yesterday which condemning the excessive use of force by the Israelis during the recent violent protests. In an eleventh-hour measure, says Alan Philps in The Telegraph, "Kofi Anan, the UN Secretary General, left New York for Israel last night hoping to use personal diplomacy to resolve the crisis". [... more]

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