And so it continues but, of course, Arafat was the problem!
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Sharon cuts all contacts with Abbas – Report
1/14/2005 7:00:00 PM GMT
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cut all ties with Mahmood Abbas until the newly elected Palestinian President ends the armed resistance, media reports said on Friday.
Three Israeli television channels reported that Sharon decided to cut all contacts with Abbas, one day after six Israelis were killed in a Gaza attack organized by three Palestinian resistance groups.
The TV stations didn’t quote any sources.
Also, Sharon’s office didn’t immediately comment on the report.
Earlier a senior official in Sharon’s office suggested that the latest attack "would not stop a future meeting" between Sharon and Abbas.
"This attack shows that future talks must be focused on security issues and that the Palestinian leadership must fight terrorism," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Abbas denounced the attack as well as Israel’s military operations in the occupied territories, saying that they do not "contribute to the peace process."
"This operation and Israel's operations, which killed nine Palestinians this past week, do not contribute to the peace process," he told reporters after Friday's prayer.
"We are committed to the peace process and we will implement our campaign program," he added.
Abbas, who was elected Sunday to succeed the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has vowed to conduct political, economic and security reforms.
He has repeatedly called for an end to the armed uprising against Israel’s occupation and has said that he would persuade Palestinian fighters to a cease-fire.
Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades jointly claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack which took place at Gaza’s Karni terminal.
aljazeera.com |
