Reply #5: (Haaretz) Israeli officials dismiss Arafat truce proposal as 'deception' [View All]

[bemildred]

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said
Tuesday that the entire Palestinian leadership
supports a proposal made earlier in the day for a
comprehensive and unlimited cease-fire with
Israel, Israel Radio reported.

Jibril Rajoub, Yasser Arafat's
national security advisor, was
the first to issue the offer
earlier in the day, but Israeli
officials brushed the offer
aside as "deception,"
demanding
instead that the Palestinian
Authority crack down on
militant groups.

Arafat himself struck a conciliatory tone, but
stopped short of making a specific cease-fire
offer. "We say to the peace supporters in
Israel that we extend our hand to you to revive
peace," Arafat said in a speech to about 2,500
Palestinians at his battered West Bank
headquarters.

Palestinian officials have said they were given
to understand by the United States that it
backs the idea of a mutual truce, provided it
is followed by some action against the
militants, such as a weapons roundup.

Haaretz