Ceasefire 'in hands of Palestinians'

The fate of a ceasefire proposal drawn up by CIA director George Tenet lies in the hands of the Palestinians, says a leading Israeli.

The chairman of Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee, said Israel's positive response to the proposal leaves the future of talks in the hands of Yasser Arafat.

Dan Meridor said both sides could start talking again if Mr Arafat calls an end to the violence.

"If he responds positively with no tricks and no buts, no provisos, no ifs, and his violence stops altogether, we can go back to the negotiations," Mr Meridor said.

Although Israel has said it accepts Tenet's proposal, Raanan Gissin, a close aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said it has concerns about the wording of the American proposal to end violence and get peace talks back on track.

"Despite our reservations, we accept the proposal as it is," Mr Gissin said. He warned, however, that any violence after a ceasefire would mean a cooling off period, an Israeli requirement before progressing on the political track.

The Palestinians have insisted Israel agree to end all construction in Jewish settlements, while Israel said the ceasefire must be unconditional and precede all other measures.

Expectations that a US-mediated agreement would end Israeli-Palestinian violence were low after four hours of talking with CIA chief George Tenet.

"It was a stormy meeting," said Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian security chief of the West Bank. He said the two sides failed to reach agreement and complained of American bias toward Israel in the meeting.