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Abbas Says Palestinians Will Call Cease-Fire  | February 03, 2005

The IRFWP is greatly encouraged by the public announcement of a ceasefire by Palestinian President Abbas and pray for ongoing progress toward peace in the Holy Land. We are further encouraged that this announcement does not come in a vacuum, but rather in the context of ongoing dialogue between Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Mohammed Dahlan, the former Palestinian security minister. We urge all religious leaders and believers to pray for the success of upcoming meetings among Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Further we pray for and encourage the establishment and development of projects and initiatives which allow Israeli-Palestinian cooperation at all levels of society and culture.

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The Palestinians will call a cease-fire in hostilities with Israel when the two sides meet next week for peace talks in Egypt, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said today.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will hold talks on Feb. 8 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, their first meeting in more than a year. Abbas last month was elected president on a promise to end violence and restart the peace process that ended with the so-called Intifada uprising in 2000.

``We will announce a cease-fire and the Israeli side must announce the same thing,'' Abbas told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres today told Israeli Army Radio he hopes the summit will include a declaration on an end to violence.

The death in November of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the election of Abbas, also know as Abu Mazen, have spurred Israel and the Palestinians to revive the so-called ``road map'' to peace in the Middle East first proposed in 2003. The plan sets out steps the two sides must take toward the creation of a Palestinian state, including the renunciation of violence.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met several times in the past week with Mohammed Dahlan, the former Palestinian security minister, to arrange the meeting between Sharon and Abbas in Egypt. King Abdullah II of Jordan -- who hosted the last meeting between the two men in June 2003, when U.S. President George W. Bush presented the road map -- will also attend the talks in Egypt.

`Total End to Violence'

``I hope that during the course of this summit there will be a declaration of a total end to violence and combat,'' Peres told Israeli Army Radio, monitored in Tel Aviv.

Peres, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Arafat and former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after the 1993 Oslo accords, said he is optimistic that Abbas will be able to control militant groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

``This time there is a Palestinian leader who is really trying to prevent violence,'' he said. Sharon Spokesman Raanan Gissin, said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem that the leader's office won't make ``declarations'' now, adding ``we're taking steps to ease the situation and we'll have a package of gestures to unveil at the summit.''

Abbas said ``there are positive signs'' that Israel will observe the cease-fire. The Palestinian leader has called on the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad to end attacks against Israelis. Both groups are classed by the U.S. and European Union as terrorist organizations.

Asked if Israel was confident Abbas could control Hamas, Gissin said, ``he's the duly elected president of the Palestinian people and he has the necessary powers to use against those who violate the law.''

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Peter Torday at [email protected]

Posted by admin at February 3, 2005 11:08 AM


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