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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Paleos unified |
| 2005-10-09 |
| Rival Palestinian militant groups put up a united front on Saturday to denounce inter-factional kidnappings and violence that have undermined calls by President Mahmoud Abbas for law and order in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "We announce all of the military wings are united in their position and faith and that we consider any attack on any one of us as an attack on us all," eight factions, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said in a statement. "Any action aimed at spreading chaos or internal strife ... will be considered treason," said the statement, issued at a Gaza news conference attended by gunmen, some of them masked. "Our response will be unified and swift." In the latest in a string of kidnappings widely believed to stem from factional rivalries, a Hamas member was abducted by unidentified gunmen in the West Bank on Friday but was released within hours. Several other Hamas men were snatched last week and freed unharmed. Three people were killed in Gaza on Sunday in firefights between Hamas gunmen and Palestinian police, and 50 people were wounded when militants later tried to storm a police station. Abbas has called on militant groups, which have spearheaded anti-Israeli violence over the past five years, to end what he describes as armed chaos and stop carrying their weapons in public. Israel has complained he has not gone far enough and must disarm the factions and dismantle "terrorist infrastructure" in accordance with a U.S.-backed "road map" that charts mutual steps leading to the creation of a Palestinian state. Abbas, who declared a truce along with Israeli leader Ariel Sharon last February and coaxed militants into announcing a "period of calm" until the end of the year, wants to co-opt gunmen rather than confront them, citing fears of civil war. The two are expected to meet as early as Tuesday ahead of Abbas's White House talks with U.S. President George W. Bush on Oct. 20 amid heightened hopes for peacemaking following Israel's completion of a pullout from the Gaza Strip on Sept. 12. Israeli and Palestinian officials planned to meet on Sunday for another round of preparatory talks ahead of the Abbas-Sharon summit, which is not expected to yield any breakthroughs. Speaking on Israel Radio, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom reaffirmed Sharon's refusal to restart talks on Palestinian statehood until Abbas cracked down on militants. "Our demand is unequivocal: they have to act against terrorism decisively," Shalom said. "I think if they do that, we would be willing to take a long series of measures that would ease things for them. Our aim is to march together towards a resumption of talks, but in accordance with the road map and devoid of shortcuts which the Palestinians are interested in." |
| Posted by:Elmineting Creasing2445 |
| #3 Paleos unified Oxymoron |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-10-09 23:00 |
| #2 the Israelis can play this too...bag a biggie and hint the tip came from a rival..pass the popcorn |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-09 14:33 |
| #1 .. to end what he describes as armed chaos and stop carrying their weapons in public. But, but, how then will they fight the Zionist entity??? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-10-09 13:40 |