28 January 2005

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday that he believed conditions were right for a "historic breakthrough" with the Palestinians hours after the Palestinian leadership banned civilians from carrying unauthorized weapons.

Sharon has welcomed efforts by new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to bring calm after a 4-year-old uprising.

"I believe the conditions have been created to permit us and the Palestinians to reach an historic breakthrough, a breakthrough that will lead us to security and peace," Sharon said in a speech to a business group.

He said that if the Palestinians work to "end terrorism, incitement and violence," Israel could be ready to move forward with contacts on a "road map" peace plan that would lead to a Palestinian state.

As part of efforts to reach a truce with Israel, Abbas held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II later Thursday to restart final settlement negotiations.

The state Petra news agency reported that Abdullah expressed support to the newly elected Palestinian leader.

It quoted the king as saying that Abbas' election "has cleared the way for overcoming the present circumstances and forging a shining future for the Palestinians."

Before he left Ramallah, Abbas urged Israel to agree quickly to a cease-fire with Palestinian militants and said he was looking forward to holding a still unscheduled summit with Sharon.

"We are interested in a mutual cease-fire. The Israelis have also told me that they are interested but they need to respond very quickly," Abbas told reporters after talks with U.S. envoy William Burns.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom however was distinctly cool on talk of a cease-fire, saying a cease-fire is "a ticking bomb which will blow up in our faces."

Burns had a more upbeat assessment of the situation, detecting "the best chance for progress that we have seen in the last few years."

Abbas is also scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Saturday about efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement from Palestinian factions. Abbas has also reportedly asked regional leaders for their assistance in ensuring the success of any truce by the factions.

In Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief said that his country was ready to work with other Arab nations to secure a cease-fire.

Arab League diplomats said that the effort - a joint proposal by Jordan, Egypt and Palestinians - will be put before an Arab summit to convene in Algeria in March.

Earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei signed an order banning unauthorized Palestinians from carrying weapons.

The decree banning Palestinian civilians from holding weapons was a gesture toward Israel and the United States as well a double signal to Palestinians that the Abbas regime will be based on law and order, and that police will not allow militants to strut in public with their weapons.

The decree emphasized the law and order issue, noting "the increase in the number of violent crimes in all the governates because of the chaos of weapons."

A Palestinian official said Abbas and Qorei will appoint Nasser Youssef as the new Palestinian interior minister.

Youssef was in charge of cracking down on militants in the mid-1990s, and his appointment would send another message that the Palestinian leadership intends to rein in violence.

In mutual signs of goodwill, a senior Palestinian official said Israel has agreed "in principle" to withdraw forces from West Bank cities and to free 900 Palestinian prisoners.

Former Palestinian security minister Mohammed Dahlan said Israel had agreed to leave five West Bank cities, in the talks between senior officials held in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian forces would be given responsibility for security in Ramallah, Qalqiliyah, Tulkarem, Jericho and one other town which will be decided upon at a further round of talks.

"They also said that they would stop going after the wanted men, stop the arrests and assassinations," he said. "I will continue talking with (Israeli Defense Minister Shaul) Mofaz about all the details."

Israeli political sources confirmed Israel was considering letting hundreds of prisoners out as a goodwill gesture to Abbas.

The Palestinian security council also decided to retire 1,076 police offers to make room for a new generation of officers.

From 1995 until the uprising erupted in late 2000, Palestinian police patrolled the cities and towns of the West Bank, and Israel's military deployed at the edges of the West Bank and around Jewish settlements.

After a series of bloody suicide bombings in 2002, Israel sent its forces back into the West Bank and retook the main towns and cities.

Palestinians are hoping that the new trend toward calm will result in an Israeli pullback to pre-uprising positions.

In central and southern Gaza, Palestinian police were to have taken up positions on Thursday. But deployment was delayed because of technical difficulties and will begin Friday, Palestinian commanders said. - Agencies