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 | | From: | AP | | Subject: | Palestinian Group Ready to Cease Violence | | Date: | Sat, 22 Jan 2005 8:30:09 EST |
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*Associated Press/AP Online
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A local group of Palestinian
militants announced Saturday it is ready to stop violence, a sign
that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appears to be making some
progress in persuading armed factions to halt attacks on Israel.
The announcement by gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades, a group with ties to Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, came a
day after some 3,000 Palestinian policemen were deployed in the
northern Gaza Strip to halt rocket fire on Israeli communities.
A top Israeli security official on Saturday praised the
Palestinian effort to rein in militants. Compared to lackluster
performance in the past, "now it seems they (Palestinian
security forces) are taking positive action," said Brig. Gen.
Giora Eiland, head of Israel's National Security Council.
Eiland told Israel Radio that the situation remains fragile
and that in the long run Abbas will have to dismantle armed groups
and raid weapons workshops
Abbas has said he wants to avoid force and is instead trying
to reach agreement with the militants.
In the past few days, he has been meeting with militant
leaders in Gaza, and participants have reported progress toward a
truce. Egypt is expected to host Abbas and Palestinian militant
leaders in coming days in Cairo to finalize an agreement, a top
Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.
The meeting is to be convened after the Muslim holiday of
Eid al-Adha, which ends Sunday.
The armed groups - mainly Hamas, Al Aqsa and Islamic Jihad -
have said they want Israel to promise that it is halting military
operations, including arrest raids and targeted killings of wanted
Palestinians. Israel has refused to give such a guarantee in the
past, and it remains unclear if it will do so now.
On Saturday, a local Al Aqsa group said it is willing to
halt attacks, provided Israel also observes the truce and begins
releasing Palestinian prisoners. The group, which consists of
several dozen gunmen, made the announcement at a news conference in
the basement of a building in Gaza City.
The Bush administration said Friday it is taking advantage
of a lull in violence to send the State Department's ranking Mideast
official to the region to assess chances of peacemaking.
The announcement of next week's trip by Assistant Secretary
of State William Burns was coupled with a positive U.S. response to
the Palestinian police deployment. "We have always stressed how
important it is for the Palestinians to organize themselves to end
the violence, and we welcome steps that are being taken in that
direction," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
Militants have not fired rockets since Wednesday, and Hamas
spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the group was suspending attacks.
In his meetings with the militants, Abbas is also trying to
forge agreement on a joint political platform that would give him a
stronger mandate in future negotiations with Israel. The document
being considered calls for establishing a Palestinian state in the
West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, al-Masri said.
Hamas is pledged to Israel's destruction and has carried out
many suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis. But in
the past it has indicated a willingness to consider a long-term
truce.
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