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| Middle East |
| Palestinians hand over arms in breakthrough gesture |
| 2003-04-12 |
| Palestinian police handed over to Israel weapons confiscated from militant groups, in an unprecedented confidence-building measure as the intifada continued to rage Friday with several wounded by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Yes. That's my jaw on the floor. Try not to step on it... In one of the most tangible signs of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in months, the Israeli Army said Friday that Palestinian police in the eastern West Bank city of Jericho had handed over weapons seized from armed militant groups. âThe Palestinians in Jericho handed over a stack of weapons, including 12 empty gas canisters filled with explosives, around 50 home-made grenades and an anti-tank rocket,â the army said in a statement. The move came just two months after the army lifted a blockade imposed on Jericho, the only major town to have escaped Israelâs reoccupation of the West Bank in June 2002. Jericho apparently wants to avoid being occupied. That must be where the Paleos keep their guys with 3-digit IQs... The Israeli tabloid Maariv said Friday the deal had been approved by several Palestinian officials, including newly-appointed Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. The US and Israel have pushed for the creation of Abbasâ power-sharing position, pinning their hopes on the dovish veteran to sideline Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and take concrete steps to end the 30-month-old cycle of bloodshed. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 Now that Saddam's not around to hand out big fat checks to the families of suicide bombers, maybe we'll be seeing more cooperation from the Palestinians. |
| Posted by: Baba Yaga 2003-04-13 00:43:53 |
| #2 That's the town where Arafat has a casino that used to operate until couple of months into the Intifada. |
| Posted by: marek 2003-04-12 20:42:16 |
| #1 Abbas may be the Gorbachev to Arafat's Brezhnev. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2003-04-12 20:00:21 |