RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority will not disarm militants until Israel ends its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as stated in a US-backed peace plan, Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said on Monday.
| Of course, they weren't disarmed before the occupation, either... |
"Under international law, the Palestinian people have the right to resist this occupation and defend themselves," Kidwa, the former Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, told Reuters in an interview. "When occupation ends, it becomes a different matter. It would have to come to a national position to start disarming everybody, everybody but the security apparatus," he said, referring to Palestinian Authority security forces. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who declared a ceasefire with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in February, could not be reached for comment on whether the Palestinian leader agreed with Kidwa's remarks. |