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Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen said he expects to reach an agreement with Hamas for a complete halt of terror attacks against Israelis.
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05/29
Haaretz |
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05/29
Jerusalem Post |
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| By Ellis Shuman May 29, 2003 |
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Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) will tell Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tonight that the Palestinians will take on security control of areas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank after an IDF withdrawal, Yediot Aharonot reported today. Abu Mazen told the newspaper that he expects to reach an agreement with Hamas next week for a complete halt of terror attacks against Israelis.
Sharon and Abu Mazen will meet in Jerusalem ahead of their summit with U.S. President George W. Bush next week in Akaba, Jordan. The three-way summit would be held "conditions permitting," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Wednesday, explaining that "all the parties have responsibilities leading up to the meeting, and we anticipate that all the parties will honor those responsibilities."
The Palestinians will ask for an explicit Israeli statement accepting eventual Palestinian statehood, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said. "The Palestinians are looking for a signal that we are turning the page and entering a new era."
On Sunday, the Israeli government approved the Quartet-sponsored "road map" peace plan initiative, but attached a list of 14 reservations to the plan, which have not been accepted by the Palestinians.
Gradual security control
Sharon will offer the Palestinians gradual security control in parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank to be evacuated by Israeli forces, media sources reported. Sharon reportedly made the same offer to Abu Mazen in their previous meeting two weeks ago, but the Palestinian leader conditioned any progress towards peace on Israel's formal acceptance of the "road map." Now that the Israeli government has accepted the steps of the plan, Israel expects the Palestinians to begin fulfilling their commitment to act against terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure, as listed in the plan.
Sharon's offer of giving security responsibilities to the Palestinians will be conditional on "100 percent effort" at combating terrorism, Haaretz reported. Efforts expected of the Palestinians include "arrests; investigations and trials for terrorists and those who send them; disarming
terrorist organizations; gathering illegal weapons; making efforts to prevent terror attacks and a complete halt to the incitement in the Palestinian education system and media," the paper said.
"We told the Israelis in the last meeting that we were ready to take security responsibility anywhere in Gaza and even in the West Bank if Israel withdraws unilaterally form these areas," a source close to Abu Mazen told the Jerusalem Post.
Yesterday, after his meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, Abu Mazen said the Palestinians were in "total agreement [with the Spanish and the Europeans] on the implementation of the road map in good spirit and with a real intention to carry out all the required steps. We will work with the Quartet from beginning to end," he said.
Abu Mazen: Hamas willing to end terror
In his interview with Yediot Aharonot, the Palestinian prime minister said, "My assessment is that by next week I will arrive at a cease-fire agreement with Hamas."
Abu Mazen said Hamas was willing to commit to "ending terror inside the Green Line and also in the territories. After the agreement with Hamas, I hope to reach agreements with the Tanzim and Islamic Jihad."
Abu Mazen told Yediot Aharonot that no agreements had yet been signed, but added that during his meetings with Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, they expressed their willingness to accept a hudna (temporary cease-fire).
Abu Mazen stressed that Israel would have to help his efforts by making additional gestures, including the release of Palestinian security prisoners, an easing of conditions on the Palestinian population, and a total cessation of IDF military operations."
Israeli officials have previously said that a hudna was an insufficient step in the Palestinians' war against terror, but Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz indicated recently that Israel would accept a short-term hudna as a first step prior to a total dismantling of the terror organizations, media sources reported.
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