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Israel Rejects Palestinian Call for Immediate Ceasefire Talks: Report
Israel has turned down an offer by Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat for immediate truce talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Israel Radio reported Monday.
The report said that Arafat has proposed that the talks be held on Monday in Cairo.
Both the Palestinian offer and the Israeli rejection were tied to three Palestinian attacks on Sunday, in which two suicide bombers and a drive-by gunman left five Israelis dead and dozens of others wounded, said the report.
But the radio said that a Peres-Arafat meeting, which has been discussed by both sides for weeks, could take place within a few days, though it has often been postponed due to the Israeli- Palestinian violence.
Following the three attacks on Sunday, Peres has been under intense pressure from right-wing hardliners to call off the meeting with Arafat.
Aids to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also reportedly questioned the wisdom of holding the meeting at a period of continuing Palestinian attacks.
The right-wingers said that Sharon himself had once supported Peres-Arafat talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire, but now has changed his mind.
Peres had said, prior to Sunday's attacks, that the meeting with Arafat has to take place without any preconditions or ultimatums. He also tried to lower expectations for the outcome of the meeting.
Nearly a month ago, Sharon authorized Peres to negotiate only a ceasefire with Arafat and barred him from conducting political negotiations with the Palestinian leader.
Palestinian officials, however, have insisted that the talks should not be devoted solely to security matters, saying that security issue must be linked to political and diplomatic ones.
Analysts here believed that Sunday's attacks were designed to torpedo the anticipated Peres-Arafat meeting.
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