Arafat seeks total ceasefire

[kramadas]

Also read the party where the IDF demolishes the house of an innocent family, whose crime was to be forced, at gunpoint, to let a masked man inside.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/801833.asp?0dm=C25EN&cp1=1

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept. 22 — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat expressed commitment to reaching a total cease-fire with Israel in talks with envoys of the “Quartet†of international peacemakers, Palestinian officials said on Monday.

SENIOR PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR Saeb Erekat told Reuters that Arafat, in talks on Sunday, cited conditions including the sending of international monitors to encourage both sides to implement a “road map†peace plan. Israel has rejected such a condition in the past.

The United States is the dominant member of the Quartet but boycotts Arafat, accusing him of fomenting violence, a charge that he denies.

Erekat said Arafat gave the three other Quartet members, the European Union, United Nations and Russia, a letter in which he “reiterated his full commitment to implementing the road map and the rule of law in Palestinian areas.â€

“He also told them he is committed to total cessation of violence against Israelis anywhere provided (the Quartet) intervenes to revive the road map and provide monitors in order to commit the two sides to implement it,†Erekat said.

Israel and the United States have tried to isolate Arafat. But Israel’s recent threat to “remove†the Palestinian leader has touched off an international outcry and boosted his grass-roots popularity.

HOME DEMOLISHED IN HEBRON

Israeli troops backed by tanks surrounded a house in Hebron early Monday, exchanging fire with at least one gunman inside and then demolishing the building, Palestinian witnesses and military officials said.

It was unclear if there was anyone inside as bulldozers began demolishing the home belonging to Akram Shahin, an Islamic studies teacher whose son, Karim, is a Hamas activist sentenced to six years in an Israeli prison.

The military said forces arrived at the house before dawn and called on the residents to come out. The residents of the house came out and told the forces that a masked, armed fugitive had entered the house, threatening them at gunpoint, shortly before the troops arrived, military officials said on condition of anonymity.

A gunbattle began and bulldozers began demolishing the house, the officials said. The army did not know whether the fugitive — whose name was not released — had been wounded in the gunfire. Palestinian sources said Akram Shahin is not a known fugitive.

Israel has been rounding up Palestinian fugitives from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an attempt to halt militant attacks. Often, the army destroys the homes of militants in an attempt to deter Palestinians from attacking Israelis.

[g420]

what a joke the subject of this post, the man responsible for many years of terrorism declares a ceasefire....lol

[mr mahs]

Originally posted by g420

what a joke the subject of this post, the man responsible for many years of terrorism declares a ceasefire....lol

Right, he knows the Isrealis can squash him like the roach he is at any time.

[cintron]

kind of ironic. All the years of rejecting talks, bickering and declaring/breaking brief ceasefires, and now that his job and his life is on the line, miraculously he wants to make peace with Israel.

perhaps that was the point of this whole charade.