Washington steps up efforts to maintain ceasefire
Israeli and Palestinian officials, under the strongest US prodding in months, have been asked to respond tomorrow on ways they could cement a week-long truce and restore the trust needed for an eventual return to peace talks.
CIA chief George Tenet’s three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs yesterday marked the highest-level Bush administration involvement in stemming the violence that broke out on September 28 last year and has claimed nearly 600 lives.
A Palestinian security official said Tenet gave both sides a written proposal containing a timescale for implementing commitments made at an October summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, and recommendations of a commission led by former US Senator George Mitchell.
Both call for an end to violence. The Mitchell report specifies an end to violence, a cooling-off period, confidence-building measures, then a return to talks.
Both sides were asked to respond to the proposal, the Palestinian official said. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met his political and security advisors afterwards to work on the response, the official said.
