IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ron Kitri expressed sharp criticism today at the position that U.S. government spokesmen are taking regarding the destination of the Karin A arms freighter. Israel has provided an abundance of evidence that the 80 tons of weapons on board, captured by Israeli naval commandos on Thursday morning, was organized by and headed for the PLO in Gaza. The most recent confirmation of the ship\'s destination was the captain of the ship himself Omar Akawi who told interviewers yesterday that the Lebanese Hizbullah had nothing to do with the arms transfer, and that the ship was destined for the PLO in Gaza. But, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at Monday\'s press briefing, \" We don\'t know who hired it, who was the recipient… We tend to like to have the facts before we draw the conclusions, so at this point we\'re still talking obviously to the Israelis and talking to the Palestinians about getting the facts in this matter.\" The IDF spokesman expressed his hopes that the US spokesmen who have doubts as to where the ship was headed \"are wearing small hats, because they will have to eat them.\" He also confirmed that the Israeli Security Agency (ISA - formerly called the GSS) opposed allowing TV journalists to interview the ship\'s captain, but it was decided to permit the interviews in order to provide irrefutable evidence that the arms were headed for Gaza.



At Monday\'s US State Dep\'t press briefing, Associated Press correspondent Barry Schweid pursued the question of where the weapons were going with State Dep\'t spokesman Boucher:



Mr. Schweid: But the question I\'m trying to ask is whether you also don\'t know whether the Palestinian Authority had hired the ship to bring 50 tons of outlawed weapons into terrorist hands in that region. Is that still a question in your mind?

MR. BOUCHER: Barry, I answered your question originally to say we don\'t have the facts in this matter. I didn\'t focus on Chairman Arafat except to the extent that he said he didn\'t have any knowledge. We don\'t know. We don\'t know who hired it, who was the recipient. Those are the kinds of pieces of information we are looking for…



QUESTION: If I could ask one last thing, and then I will give up -- or yield, not give up, because you are providing some answers at least.

MR. BOUCHER: Then you will be satisfied and full of information?



QUESTION: No, I mean, I think it will probably take a long time before the State Department figures out who did this, but then we\'ll be back with the same questions. I just wondered if there was any compliment or any or any pat on the back due Israel for intercepting, considering your war on terrorism -- whoever hired the ship, wherever the weapons came from?

MR. BOUCHER: It\'s definitely good that Israel stopped the weapons. Obviously, this was an Israeli operation. Any law enforcement operations or other operations that are able to prevent terrorists or violent groups from acquiring the means of carrying out their violence is good. We think it\'s commendable of the Israelis for having been able to intercept the shipment and prevent the potential escalation of violence in the region.



QUESTION: But presumably it is also good that the sun rose this morning, yes?…

QUESTION: Going to the ship incident again, the wires are carrying interviews with the ship\'s captain where he says that he was indeed working for the Palestinian Authority under contract to the Palestinian Authority. And I understand that you are still in the process of gathering facts and verifying information and so on, but if it is shown that this indeed was a Palestinian Authority operation, how serious a blow would that be to --

MR. BOUCHER: That\'s what we call the hypothetical, the grand speculative hypothetical that we don\'t try to answer. Let\'s see what the facts are first. Let\'s deal with the facts as we find them, as we know them. At this point I know there is a lot of things being said, but it\'s not for us to speculate.



QUESTION: If I can, just to follow. Other elements of the US Government are a little bit more supportive of the Israeli point of view than you have been. Is there some other information that they have access to that you don\'t, or why are you --

MR. BOUCHER: I don\'t know that I\'ve been supportive or dismissive of anybody\'s information. Obviously we are in very close touch with the Israelis. They are a friend and an ally. We cooperate with them in any number of ways. But I am not out here to draw conclusions on a set of facts until we\'ve had a chance to gather all the facts and hear from all the parties.



QUESTION: So we\'re doing a separate investigation of our own?

MR. BOUCHER: I wouldn\'t call it that. I would say we are interested in anything we can find out from any sources or any parties in this matter.



QUESTION: Are you interested in talking to the ship\'s captain?

MR. BOUCHER: I don\'t know if we would do that sort of thing on our own, frankly.



QUESTION: You know, the impression that the State Department is leaving today is they are waiting to hear from Yasser Arafat, or from at least Palestinian Authority officials, what happened. I mean, you don\'t know what happened. It\'s five days after the ship was intercepted, and it\'s a big, big mystery.

MR. BOUCHER: Let me just say the impression is wrong.