Scores of Fatah gunmen in the West Bank have signed a pledge renouncing attacks against Israel in return for an Israeli promise to stop pursuing them, a Palestinian security official said Sunday. The deal would grant amnesty to 178 Fatah gunmen who will join the official Palestinian security forces, and Israel will remove them from its lists of wanted men, the official said, according to the AP.
An official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office confirmed the deal would extend to wanted gunmen who openly renounce terrorism, and was part of a series of measures to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Olmert is set to meet Abbas on Monday, Olmert's office said. At the meeting, Olmert is expected to present a list of 250 Fatah prisoners Israel will release.
And in another gesture, Israel agreed to Abbas' request to allow Nayef Hawatmeh, an exiled Palestinian leader, to enter the West Bank this week for a meeting of a top Palestine Liberation Organization policy-making body, a step that Abbas hopes will provide him added legitimacy among Palestinians.
Hawatmeh heads the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction best known for its attack on school in the northern Israeli town of Maalot in 1974. The attack left 24 Israelis dead.
The amnesty document began circulating Saturday among members of Fatah-allied groups dedicated to fighting Israel. The Palestinian official said an "overwhelming majority" of the gunmen have already signed. The Palestinians asked that another 200 persons be included in the amnesty, he said.
An Arabic text of the document obtained by The Associated Press reads in part: "The Israeli security and judicial authorities will refrain from arresting or pursuing me after I sign this document. I must be committed to the decisions of the Palestinian Authority and its security apparatus ... and refrain from carrying out any military or security activities against the Israelis."
Kamel Ghanam, a Fatah leader in Ramallah, said all 40 of the militia's men in the city have signed the pledge. "We feel that we have a new political atmosphere. We are optimistic," Ghanam said.
