Arafat calls for terror to stop

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — In Yasser Arafat’s strongest call yet for an end to violence, the Palestinian leader said in a televised speech Sunday that suicide bombings and all other "terrorist activities" against Israel must cease. He pledged to arrest militants who persisted with attacks.

It was highly unusual for Arafat to refer to Palestinian attacks as "terrorist activities" — it was believed to be the first time he has employed such language during the current uprising.

Israel reacted with skepticism and said it would press its military raids to track down Palestinian militants if Arafat did not act swiftly.

In the Arabic-language speech to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Arafat also asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had "declared war" on the Palestinian Authority.

The only way out of the crisis, Arafat said, was to resume peace talks immediately and move toward a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Today, I am reiterating my call for a comprehensive cessation to all the armed activities," Arafat said from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "I call for a complete stop to all activities, especially the suicide attacks that we condemn always."

He pledged to arrest Palestinians who carried out attacks, though Israel has sharply criticized what it calls Arafat’s "revolving door" policy of temporarily detaining low-level militants, but not locking up leaders of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Raanan Gissin, a Sharon spokesman, said Israel was waiting for action. "Today is the first day that we had complete quiet in the (Palestinian) territories, which proves one thing: When Arafat wants, there can be complete quiet," Gissin said.

"Don’t make declarations. Start making arrests, start doing what you promised," Gissin added. "He has to dismantle the suicide bombers’ assembly line."

U.S. officials also expressed wary optimism about Arafat’s speech. "Now, he must turn these important words into effective and sustained action against terror and violence," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Throughout his speech, Arafat said Israel was responsible for the latest crisis. He said the Palestinians should observe a cease-fire, but he did not explicitly call for an end to the uprising.

Arafat also called for an end to mortar attacks against Israeli settlements, which have been prompting Israeli airstrikes that often target buildings used by Palestinian Authority security forces.