Palestinian insurgents withdraw ceasefire offer
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Special to World Tribune.com
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, December 10, 2001
RAMALLAH Ñ Leading Palestinian insurgency groups have withdrawn an
offer to launch a ceasefire.
The Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat as well as the Islamic opposition groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said
a previous offer of a ceasefire was "premature." The latest communique did
not elaborate.
Earlier, the same groups Ñ as well satellite organizations Ñ had
offered to halt Palestinian attacks inside Israel if the Jewish state halts
attacks against Palestinian targets.
The Palestinian offer was for a ceasefire only till the end of the
Islamic fast month of Ramadan. The month ends in another six days.
The groups also said a Palestinian ceasefire would depend on an Israeli
suspension of assassination of Palestinian insurgents and bombing of PA
targets.
It was not clear why the groups withdrew their offer. Palestinian
sources said they had been under pressure from Arafat to issue a gesture
meant to demonstrate the PA commitment to a ceasefire with Israel. On
Sunday, Palestinian sources said PA forces arrested 11 suspected insurgents
in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Arafat is said to have arrested about 220 Hamas and Islamic Jihad
members, a move Israel dismissed as staged. At the same time, four PA police
officers were by killed Israeli army gunfire near the West Bank city of
Tulkarm. The shooting took place during an Israeli military operation that
located and destroyed a Hamas bomb factory outside the city.
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