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Saint-Gaudens

Sharon agrees to settlement freeze

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Wednesday, May 30, 2001

JERUSALEM — Israel is said to have pledged to suspend construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of a ceasefire with the Palestinians.

Officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon relayed the Israeli pledge to U.S. presidential envoy William Burns. Sharon was said to have told Burns that his government accepts the recommendations of an international commission headed by former U.S. George Mitchell. The panel recommended, among other things, a complete freeze on Israeli construction.

Sharon, the officials said, told Burns that the freeze would be implemented after the Palestinians end the war against Israel. The prime minister said a cooling-off period would be required to ensure that the violence has ceased.

The prime minister has pledged to Jewish settlers that he would not agree to a complete suspension on construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Sharon has not commented on the reports.

The reported pledge on a construction freeze was offered to respond to the demand by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, who called for implementation of all of the recommendation's of the Mitchell report. Arafat has charged that Israel is constructing new settlements.

"We have announced that we have accepted the Mitchell commission," Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said. "We have done this to be in line with the United States."

Israeli ministers met Burns on late Monday and called on the United States to deem that Israel has honored its pledge of a unilateral ceasefire.

Officials said the ministers want Washington to pressure Arafat to announce his acceptance of the ceasefire amid the latest attacks carried out by his Fatah movement in the West Bank.

On Tuesday, an Israeli motorist was killed in a Palestinian ambush near the West Bank city of Nablus. The motorist was identified as the security chief of the Samarian Regional Council in the northern West Bank.

Palestinian sources reported that five PA police officers were wounded by Israeli tank fire near the Jewish settlement of Netsarim in the Gaza Strip.

For their part, PA sources said Arafat has agreed to renew the security dialogue with Israel, but has not said he would declare a ceasefire. The first meeting would begin in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and would be hosted by the United States. A second meeting would be held on Wednesday.

PA International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath said the security talks would be followed by political negotiations to implement the Mitchell report.

Wednesday, May 30, 2001


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