Abbas orders broadcasters to reduce anti-Israel rhetoric

JERUSALEM - Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, has ordered official Palestinian television and radio stations to cut back on anti-Israel rhetoric.

This was seen yesterday as a gesture to Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, who called last week for Mr Abbas, popularly known as Abu Mazen, to end "incitement" as a first step to renewing peace negotiations.

Radwan Abu Ayyash, chairman of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, told the Independent last night: "I have told my colleagues to check twice before airing anything. I don't accept that we incite. We broadcast the news. But we don't want to give Sharon any pretext for not talking to Abu Mazen."

The Israeli Prime Minister recognised that it was too early to expect Mr Abbas, the frontrunner in the Palestinian presidential election set for 9 January, to crack down on the militias, though that remains a key Israeli demand. Mr Abbas said during a visit to Cairo on Sunday that he aimed eventually to establish a single legally armed Palestinian security force.

In another sign of the post-Arafat times, an influential Hamas political leader indicated on the West Bank yesterday that the Islamic militants were interested in joining a national unity administration with the new leadership.

Sheikh Hassan Yusef, who was released recently after spending two years in an Israeli prison, said that they would agree to a 10-year truce, provided Israel reciprocated. He added that Hamas would "not rule out" a halt to suicide bombings during negotiations for a permanent peace agreement.

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