The Palestinian Authority meeting under its president Yasser Arafat Tuesday night said it was "fully ready" to implement the so-called Tenet plan for a ceasefire in the conflict with Israel.
"The Palestinian leadership commits itself to working for a consolidation of the ceasefire and a strict implementation of recommendations made in the Tenet plan and the Mitchell report," said a statement issued by the official news agency WAFA after the meeting.
The Tenet understanding, named after US CIA director George Tenet, sets out a mechanism for implementing a ceasefire, after which the Mitchell plan -- a blueprint for getting the peace process back on track -- can be put into effect.
"We, the Palestinian leadership and people, are fully ready to begin implementing (the two plans) according to the established calendar and in spite of Israeli evasiveness," the statement added. “Similarly, we are prepared to resume immediately the negotiations on a final settlement to open the way to applying UN Resolution 1397" mentioning for the first time a Palestinian state.
US Vice President Dick Cheney said before leaving Israel for Turkey a truce required Arafat's full compliance with security proposals put forth last June by Tenet, adding, "I would expect the 100 percent effort to begin immediately." Cheney offered to meet Arafat once a truce was in place.
Meanwhile. It is reported that U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni is aiming for a declaration of a cease-fire Wednesday after he convenes the joint security committee, but if he is unable to reach a coordinated statement by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, the U.S. envoy may announce the start of a cease-fire on his own - if he gets their approval, Haaretz reported.
Zinni is convening the joint security committee to continue discussions of how to move into the Tenet work plan.
The Palestinians are demanding that Israel pull back its troops to where they were on the eve of the outbreak of the intifada on September 28, 2000, and lift all the sieges and checkpoints. Israel wants the Palestinians to first take a series of steps against armed groups, including arrests, dismantling the militias, and collecting weapons.
On the ground, however, the violence was not yet at an end. Two Palestinians who attacked an Israeli village near the border with the West Bank were killed in a shootout with Israeli border guards, two of whom were wounded. A group linked to Arafat's Fatah movement claimed the attack. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
