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Abbas pledges end to violence
http://www.sina.com.cn 2005/03/03 19:54  Shanghai Daily

  Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas pledged yesterday to reform his tangled security forces to bring an end to violence. He addressed a high-level global conference convened to build on the recent Mideast progress and to ensure the Palestinians an infusion of financial aid.

  Hosted by Britain, the meeting brought together an impressive array of international figures, from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to senior Arab and European figures.

  Although it was not billed as a "pledging conference," the Palestinians are aiming to secure disbursement of sums pledged and not delivered - especially from Arab brethren - to help close an estimated US$40 million monthly budgetary shortfall. They also hope for additional pledges of more than US$500 million.

  At closed-door sessions, Abbas was to provide details on plans to turn the dozen competing Palestinian security agencies into a streamlined force that can prevent attacks on Israelis - and to end the official corruption and inefficiency that prevailed for years under the late leader Yasser Arafat.

  According to a draft of the conference's closing statement, the international community will assist the Palestinian Authority in establishing a fund, and help provide the cost of pensions, to allow for the early retirement of security personal.

  Such a move is expected to rid the ailing security apparatus of corrupt and warring officers, a crucial reform step.

  The statement said the participants also will provide Abbas with the funds to re-equip the security services with cars, telecommunications equipment, and to rebuild offices destroyed during four years of fighting.

  In a broader sense, the conference aimed to build on an improvement in the atmosphere since the November death of Arafat - who was boycotted by Israel and the Americans - and the January election of Abbas, who is seen as a moderate eager to end the violence.

  Although the conference lacks Israeli representation and is not meant to address political issues directly, the Palestinians are clearly hoping to regain international credibility. That may put pressure on Israel to move quickly toward a genuine resumption of the peace process that collapsed in 2000.

  Meanwhile, Palestinian militants in the West Bank town of Jenin issued a belligerent challenge to the new Palestinian leadership's efforts to rein in militant groups. They fired in the air and demanded visiting security chief, Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, to leave the area immediately.

  A furious Yousef immediately fired his local security chief, ordered hundreds of police reinforcements to the building and demanded the arrest of the militants.

  However, the militants' leader, Zakariye Zubeydi, later met with Yousef and apparently resolved the issue without any arrests, underscoring the government's difficulty in dealing with the militants.

  Also yesterday, Israel linked the Islamic Jihad militant group, which claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing last week, to a failed attempt to blow up a car crammed with half a ton of explosives, the largest bomb built in more than four years of fighting.

  Analysts believe the militants are members of a rogue cell directed by Islamic Jihad leaders abroad, against the wishes of local leaders who have agreed to halt attacks in Israel.

  Security officials revealed a captured Jihad militant told his interrogators of the car bomb plot, plans to carry out a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Afula and preparations for a double suicide bombing against a Jerusalem school.

  The militant, Jibril Zubeydi, was arrested two months ago, the security officials said on condition of anonymity. His brother, Zakariye Zubeydi, is a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group in the West Bank town of Jenin.

  The military discovered the car filled with explosives parked on Monday at a junction near Jenin.

  (The Associated Press)




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