Truce talks going well, says Arafat

Truce talks with Palestinian militants are going well, Yasser Arafat said today, adding that the Islamic Jihad group is ready to declare a ceasefire now and that Hamas is sending positive signals.

Arafat suggested he would take no action to dismantle the two groups, despite intensive US and Israeli pressure.

A US backed peace plan – the road map to Palestinian statehood by 2005 - requires that Palestinian security forces disarm the militant groups.

“The Islamic Jihad is already ready and now we are continuing with the Hamas,” Arafat told Israel newspaper Yediot Ahronot when asked about truce talks.

“Up to now, the results are positive, there is a positive outlook from their perspective.”

He said there are also contacts with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group loosely affiliated with his Fatah movement.

Arafat called on Israel to enter into a new ceasefire deal with the Palestinians and renew peace talks.

Arafat and his aides, including Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia, have made repeated appeals to Israel to consider a truce.

However, Israel has rejected the offers, saying it will not agree to a ceasefire until the Palestinians take action against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Asked if he would dismantle the “terrorist infrastructure,” Arafat told Yediot: “This isn’t an infrastructure, this is an opposition that you (Israel) built and you armed ... how should we disarm them? Don’t your murderous acts lead to a retaliation?”

Israel’s security Cabinet has decided to remove Arafat, which appears to give the army three options: expulsion, killing him or further isolating him in his Ramallah headquarters.

Asked about the Israeli threats, Arafat said: “Despite everything that has been, I am willing to meet” Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.