RAMALLAH, Dec 1: The Palestinian leadership declared itself ready late on Friday to implement the US-sponsored peace plan for the region which calls for the end of the uprising and the renewal of dialogue with Israel.

“The Palestinian leadership is ready to accept the implementation of mechanisms for the immediate application of the Mitchell report and the Tenet plan and to engage in final status talks,” read a statement issued following a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive, headed by Yasser Arafat.

The recommendations by former US Senator George Mitchell call for a halt to violence followed by confidence-building measures, including a halt to Jewish settlement activity and more Palestinian action against “terrorism”.

CIA chief George Tenet brokered a ceasefire agreement based on the Mitchell recommendations, but the violence on the ground has continued.

The United States on Friday demanded immediate steps by Arafat to crack down on anti-Israel hardliners.

The meeting of the Palestinian leadership, which coincided with a visit to the region by US envoys seeking to negotiate a durable ceasefire, stressed the importance of implementing “the American, Russian and European initiatives” aimed at relaunching Palestinian-Israeli dialogue.

The objective, the statement said, must be “a global working plan... to end the occupations and allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state”.—AFP