Palestinians Propose Setting Up International Panel to Follow up Mitchell ReportAhmed Qurei, speaker of the Palestine Legislative Council, proposed on June 16 that an international committee be set up to follow up the implementation of the Mitchell report.The committee could comprise representatives from the parties of last October's Sharm el Sheikh summit and members of the Mitchell commission, he said. Qurei, also known as Abu Ala, make the statement to reports after his meeting with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan Saturday afternoon in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Qurei clarified that the proposed committee could comprise 12 ministers or political officials, adding that this proposal will be discussed with George Tenet, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency. The issue is basically political and has security dimension, Qurei said, adding therefore all the recommendations of the Mitchell report should be implemented simultaneously. The Sharm el Sheikh summit was attended by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Annan, then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, then US President Bill Clinton, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to discuss ways of containing violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The Mitchell report, released last month by an international panel led by former US senator George Mitchell, urges Israel and the Palestinians to end violence immediately, adopt confidence- building measures and resume peace talks. Qurei called on Israel to carry out its commitments to the Mitchell report and Tenet's truce plan, and to put an end to the sufferings of the Palestinian people due to Israeli closure, so as to push the peace process forward. He also emphasized the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement's acceptance of the US-brokered ceasefire plan and the Palestinians' commitment to carrying out the Mitchell report. Both the Palestinians and Israel announced on June 12 their acceptance of the US ceasefire plan for ceasefire and began to implement it officially on June 13. But sporadic firing and confrontations between the two sides have never stopped, leading to the killing of three Palestinians and one Israeli and injuring of scores of others during the past three days. |
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