Palestine puts faith in diplomacy in bid to subdue militants

THE new Palestinian government will first try persuasion rather than force to subdue militant groups, a senior Palestinian official yesterday told a US envoy preparing the ground for a Mideast peace plan.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suggested he would not accept anything short of a Palestinian crackdown on the militias, saying: “We cannot make compromises when it comes to terror.” The disagreement over how to deal with the militias, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis in the past 31 months, is becoming a key sticking point in implementing the “road map” to Palestinian statehood within three years.

US envoy William Burns met with Mr Sharon on Sunday and yesterday with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia to talk about how to get started on the plan. Burns is laying the groundwork for US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit next week.