US State Department adverts were placed in the Palestinian media Thursday offering up to five million dollars for information over a deadly attack on an American diplomatic convoy in Gaza, a day after Yasser Arafat's top security advisor accused the US of "blackmail" over the incident.
"A reward of up to five million dollars is being offered for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any persons involved" in the October 15 incident said the advert in the semi-official Al-Hayat Al-Jadida daily's front page which was also run by Al-Quds newspaper and local radio stations.
"The US Government is offering ... protection of an informant's identity and relocation with their families," said the advert, headlined "Search for Justice."
In an unprecedented attack on a foreign target in the Palestinian territories, three US security personnel were killed in the roadside explosion as the convoy travelled close to the Erez border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
A US embassy spokesman played down the timing of the adverts coming the day after Palestinian leader Arafat's national security advisor, Jibril al-Rajub, said his services were looking for the culprits "but we should not be blackmailed."
Paul Patin said "the reward has been in effect for a while, soon after the October 15 attack, but was first advertized today. It was just a matter of bureaucratic delays and agreeing on the language."
The Al-Ayam daily decided not to publish the advert "because it does not contribute to strengthening relations between the Palestinian Authority and the Americans," said a source at the paper on condition of anonymity.
Rajub hit out at the United States Wednesday when he said it was "blackmailing" the Palestinians by stopping their involvement in the peace process while awaiting the results of the investigation.
"The Americans have stopped their involvement in peace efforts, waiting for the results of the investigation," he said.
"The Americans are doing a favor to the Palestinian people when they are involved in ending this conflict ... But the Americans are using that to blackmail the Palestinian Authority."
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher rejected Rajub's claims as "ridiculous".
"Our position is that there needs to be a resolution of the security situation in Gaza, including apprehension of those who are responsible for the killing of US officials there," he said.
"We have seen some cooperation, but we think that cooperation needs to be further increased. And that's something we do talk to the Palestinians about on a regular basis," he said.
"But as far as our engagement in the peace process, we're still involved, as evidenced by the travel of our officials and the kind of conversations we continue to have with the parties," the spokesman said.
At the time of the attack, Washington placed the blame for the convoy bombing squarely on Palestinian leaders for failing to combat extremist violence in the territories.
It also suspended all official and diplomatic visits to the Palestinian territories.
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