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Palestinian insurgents withdraw ceasefire offer

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RAMALLAH Ñ Leading Palestinian insurgency groups have withdrawn an offer to launch a ceasefire.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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