RAMALLAH, West Bank, 9 June — US CIA Director George Tenet and a special envoy from Washington spearheaded an international effort yesterday to strengthen a fragile Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
Tenet’s visit to cement a weeklong truce — punctured by gun and mortar fire — drew criticism from the Hamas, whose members burned an effigy of the CIA chief and waved signs saying “Tenet go home” in a West Bank rally.
The Central Intelligence Agency director hosted talks between senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials in Ramallah, while Assistant Secretary of State William Burns met Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged Palestinians to stop all forms of resistance including throwing of stones to restart peace negotiations.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will visit the region next week to join the US-led peace drive, along with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, both due today.
Burns told reporters his meeting with Arafat was “constructive” and that Tenet’s talks with top security officials were aimed at shoring up the cease-fire.
“The parties are trying to stabilize the security situation and ensure that words are accompanied by deeds and we are able to translate our calls from an immediate and unconditional cease-fire into a more secure situation on the ground,” he said.
The truce has led to a drop in violence and offered a potential breakthrough after eight months of fighting in which more than 570 people have been killed. “Things are better than they used to be, but not good enough, (not as good) as they should be. We still have a great deal of work to do,” Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told reporters after meeting Burns in Tel Aviv. Tenet mediated talks between Palestinian Preventive Security chiefs Jibril Rajoub and Muhammad Dahlan and Israel’s internal security chief, Avi Dichter, yesterday. It said they agreed to meet again in the next few days.
But senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantissi said Tenet’s mission would fail. “The Palestinian Authority will not succumb to pressures. His (Tenet’s) mission will not bring stability and will not stop the intifada,” Rantissi said.
The diplomacy is intended to find ways to implement a report by a fact-finding commission led by former US Sen. George Mitchell which calls for a cease-fire followed by a cooling-off period and confidence-building gestures, such as a total construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
