| Egyptian envoys have failed to achieve a breakthrough in talks with Palestinian militants, aimed at arranging a ceasefire with Israel and salvaging a United States-backed peace "road map" battered by violence. Representatives of Hamas and other militant groups meeting in Gaza said they had demanded international guarantees for a halt to Israeli military strikes on their leaders before they would agree to stop their own attacks on Israelis. But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told members of his rightist Likud party in Jerusalem: "As long as the Palestinians don't fight terror ... Israel will continue to hit at the terrorists and terror organisations." Militants said the Egyptian delegation, which has wrapped up two days of meetings, had offered to resume talks in Cairo and that the proposal was under consideration. |