Arafat's call to end suicide raids greeted cautiously

JERUSALEM - Israel and the United States responded warily to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's call for an end to suicide bombings and armed attacks on Israelis.

The European Union took a more optimistic line, saying Arafat's speech to the Palestinian people yesterday - made under strong international pressure - appeared to open a new window of opportunity for ending Israeli-Palestinian violence.

"I today reiterate [a call for] the complete and immediate cessation of all military activities. I renew the call to completely halt any activities, especially suicide attacks which we have condemned and always condemned," Arafat said.

"We will punish all planners and executors ... and we will hunt down the violators firmly," he said on Palestinian television, reissuing a call for a ceasefire.

But Arafat, his voice firm and gaze steady, also demanded the Government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stop its "brutal war" against the Palestinian Authority.

He did not formally declare an end to the Palestinian uprising for independence as some Israeli media reports had predicted, but repeated a call to Israel to resume peace negotiations - which it has said it will not hold under fire.

The initial reaction from Israel, which has retaliated for recent suicide bombings and shooting attacks with air raids and roundups of militants, reflected the wait-and-see attitude it has often adopted to pledges of truce by Arafat in the past.

"It's not the speech that's important, but what he does on the ground," Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said.

The White House said Arafat's speech held "constructive words, but what's important is that they be followed up by concrete action".

Sharon, who cut ties with Arafat and declared him irrelevant after 10 Israelis were killed in an attack on their bus near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last week, ignored the speech in an address of his own in Tel Aviv about an hour later.

Before Arafat's address, Palestinian police in the West Bank closed offices affiliated with the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, sealing doors with red wax or changing locks.

At least 26 such offices in Gaza and the West Bank have now been shut, officials said.

But Secretary of State Colin Powell pointed an accusing finger at Arafat ahead of his speech. He said Arafat had not done enough to round up militants from the groups, behind suicide bombings and attacks that have killed scores of Israelis over the past two weeks.

"The names have been passed to the Palestinians. And they have not arrested many names on that list, and very often those they do arrest are seen to be free in just a few days' time," Powell said.

Palestinian officials have said Israel's tightening of blockades of Palestinian cities and villages make it impossible for Arafat's security forces to act.

There was no immediate word from Hamas and Islamic Jihad on whether they would abide by Arafat's truce call. In his speech, Arafat said the Palestinian Authority had already declared illegal "groups that carry out terrorist activities".

Several hours after Arafat's address, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Israeli Army forces in at least two locations in the West Bank, the military said. No one was hurt.

- REUTERS

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