Arafat holds up Palestinian militias' truce declaration

A joint truce declaration by Palestinian militias, initially expected today, has been delayed, a Palestinian Cabinet minister said.

In the expected statement, armed groups would declare a three-month suspension of attacks on Israelis.

The Palestinian minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said in Ramallah, that he expected the announcement to be made tomorrow, with statements issued simultaneously from Cairo, the West Bank town of Ramallah and from Gaza City.

Members of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction expressed last-minute objections to the declaration, and it was possible there would be further delays.

The wrangling is over the wording of the introduction to the actual truce announcement – which is a vital ingredient in the so-called “road map“ aimed at brokering peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The road map plan for Palestinian statehood by 2005, launched by US President George Bush on June 4, is the latest effort to end the conflict.

On Saturday, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice met the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas as an Islamic Jihad leader gave the first open confirmation that the group had accepted a halt to attacks on Israelis.

Rice, who met Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho, also planned to meet Israeli officials today as part of her mission to edge both sides towards their next moves under a new peace plan.

The militants’ ceasefire has given a major push to the peace initiative, which got off to a rocky start because of continuing violence.

Intensive meetings continued on Saturday between Islamic Jihad, the larger Hamas group and Arafat’s Fatah faction to work out the final wording of an official ceasefire declaration.

“We have accepted a conditional ceasefire for three months,” said Islamic Jihad’s Gaza leader, Mohammed al-Hindi, speaking to The Associated Press in the first on-the-record confirmation by militants that they had accepted the deal.

The Syrian-based leaders of the two Islamic groups had agreed to the truce earlier in the week. A formal announcement had been expected today, with the main parties bringing 10 smaller factions on board and adding final touches to the document.