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Under pressure, Arafat, Sharon order cease-fire
©Washington Post, JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ordered his forces Tuesday to halt all violence directed at Israeli targets. In response, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instructed the Israeli army to suspend most offensive actions and withdraw from the outskirts of some Palestinian cities. The two leaders acted after intense diplomatic pressure from the United States and its Western allies to bring calm in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to facilitate U.S. attempts to assemble an international coalition against terrorism including Arab governments. Several efforts to secure a cease-fire have come and gone in the past 12 months of violence between Israelis and Palestinians; none has worked for more than a few days. Even in the hours after the two announcements Monday, violence was reported. But the terrorist attacks in America last week have shifted the political dynamic here dramatically. Diplomats said Arafat, fearful of being classified as part of the terrorist scourge, is under pressure to halt Palestinian shooting attacks and bombings as never before, while Washington has urged Sharon repeatedly to work for a cease-fire. The Bush administration, which had not intervened forcefully to halt the violence here in months, now badly wants calm in the region. Without it, and with continuing Palestinian casualties at the hands of Israel, America's main ally in the region, Washington is afraid that Arab and Islamic states will be reluctant to join an American-led coalition. "Arafat understands the 11th of September has changed the parameters," said Terje Larsen, the U.N. special envoy to the Middle East, who has met intensively with Arafat in recent days. "The U.S. now needs him. But he also knows that if he's using violence as an instrument to achieve his goals, the U.S. can't help him." After several days of nearly round-the-clock diplomatic pressure, including telephone conversations with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan, Secretary of State Colin Powell and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Arafat appeared at his headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, before more than 30 diplomats Tuesday to make his announcement. He said he has ordered his commanders "to act intensively in securing a cease-fire on all fronts, and in every town and village (and) instructed them to exercise maximum self-restraint in the face of Israeli aggression and attacks." The Israelis said they were skeptical and would insist on "100 percent results." Only after 48 hours of complete quiet would Sharon authorize his foreign minister, Shimon Peres, to meet with Arafat to discuss further steps toward cementing a truce, Israeli officials said. "The cease-fire hasn't started yet as far as we're concerned," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon. "We said a complete cease-fire. We want to see an end to all hostilities, not just efforts. What, a statement on CNN should satisfy us?" Although the number of Palestinian attacks was reported to have dropped sharply, it is doubtful all the violence can be halted immediately. In the week after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Israel has mounted a ferocious offensive, sending tanks, bulldozers and troops on raids into several Palestinian-controlled cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. About 25 Palestinians have been killed and scores have been injured, leaving Palestinian fighters in no mood to lay down their weapons for the sake of a new geostrategic reality. However, the Washington Post quoted diplomats close to Arafat as saying that in addition to telling his security forces to cool things down, he threatened harsh reprisals against militant Islamic groups that have been carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks inside Israel. In the week since the attacks in New York and outside Washington, there have been no Palestinian bombings inside Israel. It also remains to be seen whether Sharon can live with a cease-fire that leads to political negotiations with Arafat. A hard-liner and career military officer, Sharon has called Arafat a terrorist for decades and recently has taken to comparing him to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi militant suspected in Tuesday's attacks in Washington and New York. Most of his government, in which right-wingers and hawks are amply represented, is dead-set against making political concessions to Arafat. Some hard-liners have made it clear they will resign from Sharon's coalition if he engages in any political negotiations with the Palestinians.
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From the Times wire desk
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