Abbas, Sharon start Jerusalem meeting with optimism to achieve peace
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 7/2/2003

The Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon said that the opportunities to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is much greater than in the past.

In a short statement in Jerusalem with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, Sharon said "we have the opportunity to build a better future and a better life and a future filled with opportunities and hope and all these seem to be applicable more than any time in the past."

Sharon said that Israel does not want to rule the Palestinians nor to decide their fate and that he is ready to pay a painful price for "peace with the Palestinians." But he said that peace will not be smooth, if -- what he called -- terrorism continues.

For his part, the Palestinian prime minister said that the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis is political and therefore it should be settled by dialogue and negotiations as the only two means for attaining peace in the Middle East.

Mahmoud Abbas added that the Palestinians want an end for the conflict with Israel because "killing and destruction bring only hatred and hostility." He added every day passes without an agreement with Israel is a "wasted day" and every killed person is a humanitarian suffering. Abbas said he hopes to reach with Sharon agreement to form join committees for partnership with Israel.

Before this statement, the Palestinian prime minister expressed his conviction that the Israeli forces will withdraw "within one and a half months" from all positions it had occupied in the West Bank since the eruption of the Palestinian Intifada.

Abbas explained in a meeting for the Palestinian legislative council in Ramullah that he will discuss with Sharon the steps necessary for this withdrawal.

He announced in a separate context that his government received American and European guarantees that the Israeli reservations on the Roadmap is an internal Israeli matter and do not change the heart of the matter.

For his part, the minister of state for security affairs Muhammad Dahlan said in a press statement that the Jerusalem meeting would have discussed the question of the Palestinian prisoners and detainees, lifting the siege imposed on President Yasser Arafat and dismantling the closure imposed on the Palestinian areas.

To this effect, the Israeli defense minister Shaoul Mofaz said that the Israeli forces will withdraw today ( Wednesday ) from Bethlehem in the West Bank after they had withdrawn on Sunday from the areas it had reoccupied in Gaza.

On the other hand, the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat announced that the Palestinian security forces arrested the executor of the attack which resulted on Monday in killing a Bulgarian worker near Ya'bad village to the west of Jenin in the northern West Bank.

Arafat told journalists in conclusion of a meeting with a Saudi official in his general headquarters in Ramullah that al-Aqsa martyrs group which are linked to the Fatah movement has no connections to the fire launching incident. No details were given on that.

Previous Stories:
  Israeli army carries out withdrawals; Hamas, Islamic Jihad doubts   (7/1/2003)
  Israel asks for dismantling Palestinian groups, despite the declared truce   (6/30/2003)
  Israel kills boy and four Palestinians in an assassination attempt   (6/28/2003)
  PNA: Bush's call to dismantle hamas is call for palestinian civil war   (6/28/2003)
  One Israeli, two Palestinians killed in attack; Occupation forces incur in Deir al-Balah   (6/27/2003)
  People, Democratic fronts for the liberation of Palestine reject truce; Hamas, Islamic Jihad study it   (6/20/2003)

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