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| Monday, 2 June 2003 |
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Israel eases controls as Palestinians wait on militants JERUSALEM, Sunday (AFP)-The Israeli army eased its control over Palestinian territories as Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas's cabinet said it expected an answer within days from militant groups to a proposed truce in anti-Israeli attacks. "The complete closure has been lifted from midnight," (2100 GMT), an Israeli military spokesman said. Israel announced Friday it had agreed to a phased handover of security control in Gaza and West Bank towns to the Palestinians, following talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Abbas Thursday ahead of a summit with US President George W. Bush. Bush said during a trip to Poland Saturday would do all he could to reach a Middle East agreement "and see it enforced." Meanwhile an activist of the hardline Palestinian group Hamas was killed by the Israeli army Saturday during raids in the West Bank. The statements from the Palestinian cabinet and Bush came despite a vow by the hardline Islamic group Hamas to continue attacks as long as Israel failed to make substantial concessions. Two summits slated for next week are part of efforts to end 32 months of Palestinian-Israeli bloodshed with the so-called roadmap for peace, which calls for both an end to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. The first will be hosted Tuesday by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and will bring together Bush and a number of moderate Arab leaders. On Wednesday, King Abdullah II of Jordan will host Bush, Abbas and Sharon at the Jordanian coastal resort of Aqaba. The Palestinian cabinet said after its weekly meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah that it expected "to have an answer from the different groups on the (truce) proposal and hopes to forge a national accord on this question." It said contacts would continue with the groups until they gave their answer on the proposal to effectively suspend the uprising against Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The latest timeline contrasts with comments made by Abbas in an interview with Israeli public television Friday that he believed he could convince the militant groups to agree to the truce in two to three weeks. Hamas remained defiant, with a leader warning Friday suicide attacks would stop only if Israel halted all "aggression" against Palestinians. Abbas met with Sharon late Thursday for the second time in two weeks to discuss kickstarting the peace process as outlined in the roadmap. In line with the plan's call for Israeli troops to withdraw to positions they held before the uprising broke out, Sharon agreed to a phased handover of security control in Gaza and West Bank towns. In return, Sharon has demanded Abbas move to halt the violence, including "dismantling terror organizations, confiscation of illegal weapons and the ending of incitement." If the Palestinians crack down on their radical groups, Sharon has vowed to begin political negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state. Bush said his summit next week had to succeed to avoid more years of "humiliation and killing and mourning." "The work ahead will require difficult decisions and leadership, but there is no other choice," Bush declared. "No leader of conscience can accept more months and years of humiliation and killing and mourning." Bush warned, however, that "for peace to prevail, terrorism must end." In Jordan, King Abdullah linked the creation of a Palestinian state to a lasting Middle East peace. The king made the comments during talks with US Middle East envoy William Burns, who was in the kingdom to discuss preparations for Wednesday's summit and the roadmap. |
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