PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has not distanced himself from the remarks, which mark a senior PA official going on record as being even more extreme than arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat.
The Oslo Accords in September 1993 were forged when Arafat wrote a letter to then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, "The PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline
violators." So noted analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA.
Al-Kidwa, speaking to the Reuters news agency, said, "Under international law, the Palestinian people have the right to resist this occupation and defend themselves. When occupation ends, it becomes a different matter." He stated that after Israel withdraws, everyone but the security apparatus would have to be disarmed.
Reuters also reported that Israel's Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had said in response to similar statements Kidwa made on PA television that a PA refusal to disarm terrorists was "akin to dropping a cluster bomb" on diplomatic negotiations.
The U.S.-sponsored Road Map plan says the PA leadership must "undertake visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt and restrain" those who plan anti-Israeli attacks, confiscate illegal weapons and dismantle terrorist infrastructures.
The Oslo Accords in September 1993 were forged when Arafat wrote a letter to then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, "The PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline
violators." So noted analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA.
Al-Kidwa, speaking to the Reuters news agency, said, "Under international law, the Palestinian people have the right to resist this occupation and defend themselves. When occupation ends, it becomes a different matter." He stated that after Israel withdraws, everyone but the security apparatus would have to be disarmed.
Reuters also reported that Israel's Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had said in response to similar statements Kidwa made on PA television that a PA refusal to disarm terrorists was "akin to dropping a cluster bomb" on diplomatic negotiations.
The U.S.-sponsored Road Map plan says the PA leadership must "undertake visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt and restrain" those who plan anti-Israeli attacks, confiscate illegal weapons and dismantle terrorist infrastructures.