Free Republic

Mideast summit raises peace hopes SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt — Grinning broadly, the two men clasped hands as they strained to reach across water bottles, their national flags and a bouquet of yellow and white flowers atop a wide table that spoke of the distance remaining between Israel and the Palestinians. The warm and lengthy handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, repeated three times for the cameras at a breakthrough summit at this Egyptian resort Tuesday, lifted spirits in a region that has seen hopes for peace dashed so often in four years of...

MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank -- Palestinian President Yasser Arafat vented his anger Thursday at President Bush's Middle East policy shift, saying Palestinian refugees would never give up their right to return to their former homes in Israel. In a televised speech, Arafat vowed defiantly that Palestinians would follow the path of their "martyrs, cadres, strugglers and mujahideen" and not abandon their goals for "freedom and national independence." "Security, peace and stability will only be achieved through the restoration of our occupied land and usurped national rights and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state, with its capital holy Jerusalem," Arafat...

Some 8 percent of the Palestinian Authority's budget is managed by a single individual, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, according to an official report compiled by the International Monetary Fund.   Under the heading "Economic Performance and Reforms under Conflict Conditions," the IMF document, based on data provided by the PA, describes the financial management of the PA since its establishment in 1995 and through to the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in   2000. The figures show, among other things, that some $900 million in PA revenues "disappeared" during the period in question and was transferred from the Palestinian...

CAIRO, Nov 11 (AFP) - Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa said here Tuesday he urged the United States to stop siding with Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians and resume the role of "honest broker." Mussa said he informed visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, standing by his side at a press conference, "of the Arab view that the situation in Palestine is at an impasse. "And that stirs great anger among the Arabs and will lead to serious consquences," Mussa said, speaking in Arabic. "We must settle this question in a serious and objective way,...

GAZA, Palestine, October 26, 2003 (IPC+Agencies)-- Palestinain Foreign Minister, Nabil Sha’ath said Saturday  that the Palestinian people do not want an international custody but rather need international forces to be dispatched to their territories to keep  the Israeli occupation forces away from them.  Sha’ath was commenting on the European Parliament’s final communiqué last Thursday, which pointed out the Palestinain people’s right to return to their homeland and installing an international custodian system in the Occupied Palestinain Territories.  Sha’ath told reporters that the Palestinians will not accept less than what the Arab states initiative for peace has already offered regarding the...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli army is ready to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat if the government gives the order, the Jerusalem Post newspaper has reported, citing a senior military source. The report in the right-wing daily, which recently editorialised in favour of killing Arafat, followed a decision in principle by Israel's security cabinet last month to oust the Palestinian leader. The ministers did not say how or when. The Israeli threat against Arafat, a 74-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism, sparked an international outcry and drew U.S. opposition. "We have presented plans showing the risks and the chances of the...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement may announce within "a few hours or days" an initiative to cease all attacks against Israeli civilians. In a statement, a draft text of which was obtained by Ha'aretz, the organization is to state that "in accordance with the higher interests of the Palestinian people, and with our moral values, tolerant religions and belief, we, the Fatah movement reject and we will prevent any attacks against Israeli civilians." Hussein a-Sheikh, a senior Fatah official in the West Bank, confirmed that the document had been completed, and said that it could be formally announced...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that the latest suicide bombing in Israel has endangered the hopes of pushing forward with peace talks in the Middle East.</p> <p>"We note with deep regret the terrorist incidents yesterday ... which once again puts at risk the possibility of going forward," Powell said after meetings with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "We condemn them and ask all others to condemn them."</p>