Israel Offers Olive Branch To Plo
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 18, 2001
Israel has raised the possibility of renewing contacts with Yasser Arafat if he ensures that his appeal to Palestinians to end their violent attacks is carried out.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation leader delivered his message in a televised address in Arabic, calling on all Palestinian militants to suspend their armed struggle against Israel, especially suicide bombings.
His speech came days after Israel declared him ``irrelevant", cutting all ties. But Ephraim Sneh, a former military commander and member of Israel's security cabinet, said it would be possible to lift the ban if Mr Arafat backed his words with strong actions against Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, the groups which have carried out suicide bombings.
Last week the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, announced he was cutting all ties with Mr Arafat, following the killing of 10 Jews in the West Bank by Palestinian militants.
Acting under international pressure following this and other attacks, Mr Arafat said he had declared illegal ``groups that carry out terrorist activities".
He said Palestinians are committed to peace and all those who support them should uphold a truce with Israel.
He also pledged to hunt down and punish those who had breached a US mediated truce, which has failed to halt more than 14 months of bloodshed.
``Any violation of this decision will be seen as a trespass of our supreme national interest of our people and our Arab nation, and will be dealt with accordingly. Those who violate this decision will be penalised firmly," he said.
Yesterday Israeli police detained Sari Nusseibeh, the top PLO official in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, saying he had ignored a police order not to hold a reception for foreign consuls and local dignitaries under the auspices of the PLO.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald