RAMALLAH, Dec 14: New PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday called for an end to the armed uprising against Israel. Mr Abbas, the overwhelming favourite to be elected Palestinian Authority president on Jan 9
, said that opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip should be limited to non-lethal means.
"The use of weapons is harmful and it should stop," Mr Abbas told the London-based Arab newspaper Asharq al Awsat. He also emphasized "the necessity of keeping the intifada clear of weapons because the intifada is the legitimate right of the people to express their rejection of the occupaton by popular and social means".
While Mr Abbas has been a previous critic of the militarization of the struggle against Israeli occupation, it was his strongest criticism of the armed factions since he succeeded Yasser Arafat at the helm of the PLO after the veteran leader's death on Nov 11.
Mr Abbas has been working behind the scenes to persuade militant groups such as Hamas, responsible for the majority of anti-Israeli attacks since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising, to call a halt to their campaign.
"We hope to reach positive conclusions in the next few weeks," he said. His comments were published the day after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blasted the new-look Palestinian leadership and the security services for doing nothing to rein in armed factions.
Angered by the death of five Israeli soldiers after militants blew up a tunnel near the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Mr Sharon said he saw "no change" from the Palestinian Authority.
15 HOUSES DEMOLISHED: In the largest incursion since Mr Arafat's death, Israeli tanks and bulldozers staged an early morning incursion in Khan Yunis on Tuesday.
Witnesses and residents said around 15 houses had been destroyed in the refugee camp, while an army spokesman said a military unit "had destroyed houses where Palestinians were firing mortars or other arms". -AFP
THAI WOMAN KILLED IN GAZA
JERUSALEM: A Thai woman working at a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip died from her injuries caused when a mortar shell fired by Palestinians exploded on Tuesday. -AFP
