Militants call halt to attacks on Israeli targets

GAZA CITY - Palestinian armed factions agreed yesterday to suspend attacks on Israeli targets for a period of "calm" intended to lead to a formal ceasefire if Israel agrees to reciprocal confidence-building measures, including prisoner releases.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, was expected to leave Gaza to start mobilising high-level international support for the initiative.

It follows five days of intensive talks in which Abbas was said by a senior Palestinian official to have persuaded the factions - including Hamas and Islamic Jihad - to take the initial step by suspending operations.

This offers the first serious hope of political progress since an abortive seven-week truce 18 months ago.

Abbas' first significant success as President, however potentially fragile, followed four largely conflict-free days over the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Adha, during which he ordered the deployment of up to 2000 Palestinian security personnel in northern Gaza to demonstrate his determination to halt attacks on Israel.

Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel had made no commitments in return for a ceasefire but indicated the Army was ready to meet what is, in effect, the primary precondition of maintaining the temporary suspension by halting operations against militants.

"As long as there is quiet, there is no reason for us to act," Mofaz said.

Ziad Abu-Amr, Abbas' chief negotiator with the factions, said yesterday there was no fixed timetable for what he called the period of "self-initiated tranquillity".

Israel has shown reluctance in the past to release former militants to advance the peace process, but there have been indications it might do so as a gesture to Abbas.

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