Sharon given peace 'road map'
The “road map” to Mideast peace was handed to Israeli premier Ariel Sharon this afternoon and was also being presented to Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas who was sworn in today.
The plan, which aims to create a Palestinian state by 2005, had been on hold until Abbas’s appointment.
Just hours earlier a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Tel Aviv bar, killing himself and three others.
The attack underscored the difficulties Abbas faces in disarming Palestinian militants, which is a key obligation in the first stage of the US-backed plan for Palestinian statehood.
Washington developed the peace plan with the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
It was presented to Sharon by US Ambassador Dan Kurtze shortly after Abbas was sworn in in the West Bank.
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, a crackdown on Palestinian militias, an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian towns and the dismantling of Jewish settlements erected since 2001.
A Palestinian state with provisional borders could be established by year’s end and full statehood within three years, according to the timetable.
Abbas’ balancing act will include cracking down on militants without triggering civil war, easing powers away from Yasser Arafat without being accused of betraying a national symbol, and re-establishing trust with Israel without abandoning bedrock positions.
“I think that I can meet all my obligations in the government, for the sake of our people,” a smiling Abbas said after the vote.
He also said the Palestinians accepted the “road map” – whose details have been known for months – and would not agree to Israel’s request that it be further negotiated.
Two militias, including one linked to Abbas’ own Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for today’s suicide attack.
A spokesman for the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades said it was a message to the new prime minister that “nobody can disarm the resistance movements without a political solution.”
As he arrived at Palestinian leader Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah to be sworn-in, Abbas said: “We condemn this attack strongly.”
Israeli Cabinet Minister Dan Naveh said the bombing showed “there are still many factions within the PLO and the Fatah that are interested in continuing the attacks.
“As long as Mahmoud Abbas is in his position but Arafat continues to go behind his back and encourages the terror, we will not see a change,” he said.
The bomber, who the Al Aqsa spokesman said came from the West Bank town of Tulkarem, struck on Tel Aviv’s seaside promenade at about 01:00 a.m. local time.
He blew himself up outside Mike’s Place, a bar popular with foreigners that is only yards from the heavily guarded US embassy. A security guard had stopped him entering the crowded premises, preventing more deaths.
“It would have been much worse if he had managed to get inside,” police commander Yossi Sedbon said.
Twenty people remained in hospital this morning, including six who were in a serious condition. One of those badly hurt was the bar’s security guard.
