Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > "Israel positive" as targetted terrorist Ramadan Shallah "joins peace efforts in Cairo"

"Israel positive" as targetted terrorist Ramadan Shallah "joins peace efforts in Cairo"

Will Israel have to wait until after the " cease -fire" to fulfill their intentions of targetting PIJ leader Shallah for suicide bombings?
March 18, 2005

MIM: Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, the ex USF university professor who became head of Islamic Jihad in Syria, after his predecessor was 'taken out' by the Mossad, was himself targetted by Israel for assassination since 2002 for his role in a suicide bombing . Shallah was also deemed responsible for this month's suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv cafe which killed five people and injured scores of others. Shallah's participation in the talks in Cairo speaks for itself - and begs the question as to if he buying time to ' kill another day' if Israel agrees to stop defending itself by going after terrorists like Shallah and the heads of Hamas. Just as convienent as the 'cease fire' is for Shallah a group calling themeselves the National Salvation Front has announced that they will continue with terrorism and announced their opposition to what they call "a verbal cease fire. Since no national entity exists which they can salvage it doesnt take a political analysis to conclude that this group is simply a front for all terrorists involved in the 'cease fire' to continue attacks Israel while Abbas can proclaim to the media tha they are a ' renegade group'.

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Israel positive as Palestinian militants agree to cease-fire

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinian militant groups agreed Thursday to a truce with Israel until the end of this year on condition that Israel halts violence against Palestinians and frees prisoners, participants at a meeting in Cairo said.


		Palestinian Islamic Jihad top official Ramadan Shallah, right, joins in the peace efforts in Cairo.
		By Hasan Jamali, AP

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called the statement by Palestinians "a positive first step." A statement from Sharon's office said he made the remarks to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who called Sharon to fill him in on the talks between the Palestinian factions.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas agreed to a de facto cease-fire at a Feb. 8 summit with Sharon. Militant attacks have dropped considerably since — but a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in late February prompted Israel to back off some of its promises, and Abbas was eager to get militants on board with a truce to push forward the fragile peace process.

"What has been agreed upon is that the period of calm will have an upper time limit, which is the end of the year," said Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas leader. "This is in return for an Israeli commitment to stop aggression against Palestinian people and to release all prisoners."

In a warning to Israel, Nazzal added that "ending the period of calm will be in our hands, especially if there is no adherence to the conditions."

A statement released by the factions said they agreed on "a program for the year 2005 which centers on continuing the current atmosphere of calm in return for an Israeli commitment to stop all forms of aggression against our land and the Palestinian people and also the freeing of all prisoners."

Those conditions could allow Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the main groups carrying out attacks, to back out of the truce at any time because Israel is unlikely to agree to their demand for the release of some 8,000 Palestinian prisoners still in Israeli jails.

But if Israel makes gestures, the militants would be under pressure to keep up the truce. Sharon aide Ranaan Gissin suggested Thursday that Israel could carry out a promise to release 500 more prisoners if it is satisfied by steps taken by the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinians did not say how quickly the Israelis should carry out their demands, but the factions said it depends on Israeli actions how long the halt endures.

"The behavior of Sharon's government will determine if it is possible for this calmness to be long lasting or short," said Nayef Hawatmeh of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In Israel, Gissin dismissed the cease-fire declaration as an internal Palestinian issue but said Israel would honor its Feb. 8 agreement with Abbas to refrain from military action as long as Palestinians cease violence against Israelis.

He said greater progress in the peace process would not be possible "unless the Palestinian Authority and its security services take real steps to dismantle the terrorrist organizations."

Gissin also ruled out any discussions with "terrorist" groups participating in the Cairo talks.

Abbas is hoping a cease-fire declaration would push Israel to carry out its summit promises — including the handover of five West Bank towns — and move the two sides back to the negotiating table. Israel on Wednesday returned to the Palestinians security control over Jericho.

Habash said the factions also agreed on "rearranging the Palestinian house," saying they would appoint a committee to "reform the Palestinian council to achieve unity."

Hamas and Jihad are pressing Abbas to reform the Palestinian leadership to give them more say in decision-making — part of Hamas' move to take a direct role in Palestinian politics.

Nat'l Salvation Committees in PA Opposes Ceasefire
By Anadolu News Agency (aa)
Published: Friday 18, 2005
zaman.com

The Palestinian peoples resistance committees opposed the decision reached yesterday in Egypt among the 13 Palestinian factions to comply to the "verbal" ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on February 8.

An umbrella organization, the People's Salvation Committees, undertook the bombardment of three Israeli Merkava tanks, which killed seven soldiers, during 2003 and in 2002 in the Gaza they announced that they would not obey the ceasefire.

The Group's spokesperson Abu Abir said that the "honeymoon" period recognized in Israel will end on March 19. Abir added that they were not invited to the meeting in Egypt and therefore, they completely reject all the outcomes of the meeting. Egypt and the Palestinian Authority do not heed the group.

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MIM: Not to be outdone by their terrorist brothers in Cairo, Arab leaders in Algeria also wanted a 'piece' of the action, and rehashed an old offer which stipulates that Israel make it easier to attack them by withdrawal to indefensible borders and at the same time stipulated conditions which Israel had to meet "for integration into the region", i.e.becoming Judenrein.

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http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5624562

Arab leaders relaunch peace offer By Suleiman al-Khalidi

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Arab leaders have offered Israel normal relations in return for withdrawal to 1967 borders -- a
condition which Israel has repeatedly rejected.

A communique read out at the final session of an Arab summit in Algiers said peace was the "strategic option" of Arab
states to settle the conflict with the Jewish state.

The offer of peace for land was a relaunch of a 2002 peace initiative.

The United States called the summit "a missed opportunity" which failed to "reaffirm support for the trend toward greater
democratisation and freedom in the Middle East".

"I would note that 13 of the 22 heads of state were there, but I would say that the final communique did not have anything
noteworthy, one way or the other, to comment on," Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

"I would note that the final communique does not appear to reaffirm support for the trend toward greater democratisation
and freedom in the Middle East. We think that was a missed opportunity," he added.

The communique said: "(We) affirm in this context the Arab peace initiative approved by the Arab summit in Beirut in
2002."

That initiative said Arab states would open normal ties with Israel once Arab conditions are met.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the reference to peace as a strategic option was positive but his
government regretted the summit had not proposed dialogue.

"From our first reading ... it would appear that not much is new. We are disappointed that nothing was done to put
substance behind that statement (on strategic option)," he added.

JORDAN PRESSES

Jordan had pressed the Arab leaders to repackage and simplify the 2002 initiative to make it more appealing to Israeli
and international public opinion. It put forward a text which included the explicit promise of normal relations.

But some Arab governments resisted any new gestures towards the Jewish state at this juncture and the more cautious
Arabs appeared to have diluted the impact of Jordan's efforts.

"We don't see any reason for a rush (to normal relations)," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

"Israel is still building settlements and the barrier (through the West Bank). They don't deserve anything ... If they had
taken any step, we would have taken a step," he added.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, in a pro-Syrian government, said: "We are not thinking of
normalisation, neither now nor in the future.

"There is the Arab peace initiative which everyone is committed to. If it's implemented in its stages, then we will cross
that bridge (normalisation) when we come to it."

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said the Arab leaders had asked Algerian President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika, the chairman of the summit, to give the initiative fresh impetus "in the way he sees fit". A group of Arab
presidents could go on a tour to promote it, officials said on Tuesday.

"We want this peace initiative to take its path to the world," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters.

An Israeli analyst, Matti Steinberg, said the Arabs had already accepted that normalisation would come. "The debate
(is) over whether it should usher in Israeli withdrawals or be conditioned on Israeli withdrawals," he added.

Egypt and Jordan have full diplomatic relations with Israel. Several other countries have had less formal ties, fluctuating
according to the state of the Middle East conflict.

The communique, at the insistence of governments opposed to easy normalisation, set out in details the conditions
Israel should meet for integration into the region.

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