-Caveat Lector- Israel launches wave of attacks after Arafat-Peres talks cancelled GAZA CITY, Sept 15 (AFP) - Israel launched a wave of land, sea and air strikes against Palestinian positions Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon abruptly cancelled talks between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. As the United Nations, the United States and Russia led renewed efforts to secure the long-anticipated dialogue, Israel mounted assaults along the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. Two Palestinians were killed and 15 wounded, Palestinian security sources said. Arafat said the attacks were an Israeli attempt to "sabotage" his talks with Peres aimed at ending a year of bloodshed which has claimed more than 800 lives. "This is intended to sabotage the meeting" Arafat said after talks in Gaza City with the Russian Middle East envoy Andrei Vdovin. "It is an escalation to continue to implement their plan for 'oranim'," he said, using the Hebrew word for hell. Late Friday, Sharon called off talks set for Sunday, considering it would be "inappropriate" after the terrorist attacks which killed thousands in the United States. "The prime minister didn't cancel the meeting. He thinks that it's an inappropriate if Arafat cannot come through with real measures and steps to stop the violence," a senior Israeli official told AFP, adding that the meeting may be held later. Hours after the talks were called off, Israeli forces unleashed assaults on Palestinian targets. Overnight, there were incursions into the West Bank town of Ramallah and the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, injuring a total of eight Palestinians, one of them seriously, Palestinian security sources said. There was a third a third incursion at Qarara, east of the central Gaza Strip Gush Katif settlement bloc, the same sources said. Early Saturday, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip in circumstances that have yet to be determined. On Saturday afternoon Israel mounted simultaneous land, sea and air attacks along the Gaza Strip. Helicopter gunships destroyed a Palestinian military intelligence headquarters in Gaza City in the north, security sources and witnesses said. Additionally, anti-tank missiles struck a Palestinian police station at Rafah in the south and shelling from warships destroyed most of a Palestinian naval building at Nusseirat in the centre. Seven people were wounded, one seriously, in the triple strike, Palestinian hospital sources said. Israel confirmed the attacks, with the army saying they were a response to Palestinian mortar attacks. A statement said the targets were used as bases for Palestinian "terrorists" preparing anti-Israeli attacks. UN special envoy to the Middle East Terje Roed-Larsen said Saturday he hoped an Arafat-Peres meeting would take place "as soon as possible." Roed-Larsen, who met with Arafat late Friday after earlier talks with Peres, said he received a commitment from the Palestinian leader that he would order all branches of the Palestinian security services to ensure all agreements with Israel "are fully implemented and to prevent any violations." At the Friday night meeting with leaders of his security forces, Arafat urged them "not to give Israel reasons to continue its aggression," security sources told AFP. The meeting also accused Israel of attempting to "exploit" the September 11 terrorist tragedy in the United States by increasing "its aggression against the Palestinians," the sources said. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has also been in contact with Arafat and Peres, Roed-Larsen said in a statement, adding the long-delayed meeting "could be the last chance to end the fighting" and needed to be well prepared. Israeli public radio repeated Saturday morning that Sharon had cancelled the meeting, but also announced that Peres would meet with the premier the same night or on Sunday morning to pressure Sharon to reconsider. The report added that Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had spoken with Sharon Friday night by telephone but failed to convince him to go through with the meeting. In Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said it was still important for the Israeli-Palestinian meeting to take place. "We believe a meeting is important to get the process started," Powell told reporters. "This (Mideast) conflict isn't going away, and I don't think it's going to be solved by continuing conflict between the two sides." A senior Israeli official told AFP that the attacks in the United States had put international terror in the spotlight, and would change the conditions for direct ceasefire talks between Peres and Arafat. The latest deaths bring to 805 the number of people killed since the outbreak last September of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, including 617 Palestinians and 165 Israelis. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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