Palestinians fail to make ceasefire deal

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 08, 2003

Palestinians fail to make ceasefire deal

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Palestinians failed to agree on a truce offer to Israel on Sunday after three days of talks, setting back the Palestinian prime minister's hopes for a halt in violence to jump start the stalled U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have carried out most suicide attacks against Israel, resisted intense pressure from Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and the top Egyptian mediator and refused a full cease-fire.

The two groups would agree only to a limited truce, ending attacks on civilians in Israel but not on Jewish settlers or Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Expanded truce talks to be held Sunday evening has been canceled, a Palestinian source told Xinhua.

"The talks to be attended by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and delegations of the main 12 factions were canceled, and Qurei has left Cairo," thesource said.

The planned talks would discuss a possible comprehensive ceasefire with Israel in the coming period, a Palestinian diplomatic source said earlier.

Earlier in the day, the 12 main Palestinian groups ended their four-day discussions after reaching a consensus on excluding Palestinian and Israeli civilians from attacks.

The agreement was included in an eight-point declaration issued by the factions following the talks, said Mussa Abu Marzuk, head ofthe delegation from Hamas.

The declaration could be seen as a compromise deal among theparticipating factions, which have been bickering over whether tooffer Israel a ceasefire.

Representatives from the radical Islamic Jihad and Hamas hadonly agreed on stopping attacks on both Palestinian and Israeli civilians, while delegates from the mainstream Fatah movement had tried hard to persuade the hardliners to accept a conditional ceasefire.

Radical Palestinian groups have been suspicious of Israel's sincerity for peace, given the fact that the previous truce deal was easily collapsed in the wake of a series of Israeli targeted killings.

Under Egyptian mediation, Palestinian militant groups agreed in late June to suspend their anti-Israel attacks for three months.

But the unilateral ceasefire collapsed after Israel killed asenior Hamas official, Abu Shanab, in a missile attack in late August.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Egyptian Delegation Arrives in Gaza to Reinforce Ceasefire

Arafat Praises Egypt for Helping Reach Ceasefire

Arafat says Palestinian ceasefire is test for Israel

Bush strategy: Spend now, pay later? ( 4 Messages)

"Cross-Straits relations", key to break through Taiwan's economic predicament ( 2 Messages)

Reform the United Nations now: Commentary ( 4 Messages)

Economic exchanges lead Sino-India relations: Forum ( 3 Messages)

Iran poses test for newfound Western unity ( 3 Messages)

Power, water shortages feared to continue in China ( 4 Messages)