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| Tuesday, 8 February 2005 |
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Fatah ready for 'total ceasefire' with Israel GAZA CITY, Monday (AFP) The mainstream Palestinian group Fatah said it was ready for a "total ceasefire" with Israel, after a meeting in Gaza City chaired by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. "We are ready for a total ceasefire in the occupied territories and in Israel, in line with the roadmap" peace plan, the group's 129-member revolutionary council said in a statement. "All the groups linked to Fatah will implement this decision and we confirm that we plan to rally all the Palestinian armed groups," it said ahead of Tuesday's Israeli-Palestinian peace summit in Egypt. But Fatah also stressed "the Palestinians' right to self defence against attacks by the Israeli army", and their "right to resist the occupation, settlement and the construction" by Israel of a West Bank separation barrier. Meanwhile visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to take "hard decisions" for peace as she kicked off a renewed diplomatic push by Washington in the Middle East. "This is a time of opportunity and a time we have to seize," Rice said in Jerusalem ahead of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. "We will ask of our partners and our friends in Israel that Israel continues to make the hard decisions that must be taken in order to promote peace and... the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state." She will also meet Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, having hailed his recent election for changing the political landscape. Her visit will set the stage for a landmark summit between Abbas and Sharon in Egypt on Tuesday, the most tangible realisation to date of a thaw in Israeli-Palestinian ties since Yasser Arafat died in November. "The secretary (of state) comes at a time of great opportunity," Shalom told reporters before meeting the top US diplomat. "The real test is of moving towards peace and not just ceremonies... I believe the United States has a crucial role to play" to bring peace in the region, he said. |
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