Abbas, Sharon Speak of Peace in Region

02/07/2003| IslamWeb

The Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers rededicated themselves Tuesday to peace efforts and spoke of a shared future for their peoples, using conciliatory language not heard here in three years. Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon declared their readiness to put the past behind them as they met for the fourth time in six weeks to plan their next moves on the "road map" to peace. The summit came during a week of important peace strides: Three main Palestinian groups declared a temporary halt in attacks on Israelis and Israeli forces handed over security control in parts of the Gaza Strip to Palestinians. In the West Bank, Israeli troops prepared to pull out of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem - giving further momentum to efforts to establish a Palestinian state by 2005. "Even if we are required to make painful compromises, I will be willing to make them for the sake of true peace - a peace for generations, the peace that we all yearn for," Sharon said. Abbas, who stood behind his lectern alongside Sharon, responded by declaring it's time to "put the past behind us." "Enough suffering, enough death, enough pain. Let us stride forward with courage and without hesitation to the future we all deserve," he said. The two leaders, joined by senior Cabinet ministers and aides, then withdrew for two hours of talks aimed at resolving disputes over their next moves, including the pace of an Israeli troop withdrawal from West Bank towns and the scope of an expected release of Palestinian security prisoners. The premiers agreed to reactivate committees set up during the first years of peace efforts in the 1990s to discuss issues including security, prisoners and legal matters, according to officials on both sides. The committees were suspended during the current violence. Abbas also asked for freedom of movement for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who has been confined to his West Bank headquarters by Israel for more than a year. Sharon said he would consider allowing Arafat to move to Gaza, but a senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it would be a "one-way ticket." Israeli and Palestinian commanders met Tuesday to wrap up final details of the pullback from Bethlehem, expected to begin overnight or on Wednesday. Flatbed trucks loaded with armored vehicles and containers pulled out of two Israeli bases on the outskirts of town. Under the road map peace plan, Israel must gradually withdraw to positions it held before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000 - when the Palestinian autonomy government controlled two-thirds of Gaza and about 40 percent of the West Bank, including all its Palestinian cities. In a later stage, Israel is to make further withdrawals and the autonomy is to be transformed into an independent state. "We hope that they will continue with implementation of the road map plan, which means complete withdrawal from all Palestinian lands," Arafat told reporters at his compound in Ramallah. However, the chief of Israel's Shin Bet security service said Tuesday that Israel would withdraw from additional West Bank towns only if Palestinian police begin disarming Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups in the Gaza Strip. Abbas opposes the use of force against Palestinian groups, fearing it could trigger a civil war. He suggested Tuesday that illegal weapons would not be confiscated, but that Palestinian police would try to persuade militiamen not to use them. "The misuse of weapons must be prevented through dialogue and agreement, not through internal war," Abbas said in an address to the Palestinian parliament. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 1, 2003. (AFP Photo)