Arafat hoists the white flag. He proposes peace to radicals

Arafat has gone back on his word. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is ready to grant places in his new cabinet to some terrorist organizations, including the Hamas group. He is intending to do it according to the plan of government rearrangement, which will be created during the next few days. This was reported by Palestinian sources yesterday. Earlier, PRAVDA.Ru surmised that the split initiated by the Palestinian leader would turn out badly for him and that, if he wanted to retain his influence upon the autonomy, he should not remove the radicals, but attach them to himself. While he is not doing this, he is completely responsible for negative reaction of the Muslim world. If he is able to draw radicals to his government, they, first, could share his responsibility for all his non-popular moves and, second, they will stop being uncontrollable bandit formations.

The first reaction to the Arafat proposal has been already arrived: the three biggest radical groups (NFOP, Democratic Front of Palestine’s Liberation, and Islamic Jihad) declined the Arafat proposal,explaining that they do not wish to be among the ones making concessions to Israel. For the time being, Arafat’s eternal opponent, the Hamas movement, did not give a flat answer. Therefore, for the first time during the 8-year government of Arafat, there is a real chance for Hamas to enter the government.

“At the moment, consultations are being held among our colleagues, both inside and outside the country. We intend to give the final answer by the end of this week,” – the group’s representative, Ismail Hania said.

Israeli, in its turn, is not inclined to appreciate the plan proposed by Arafat. “If Arafat intends to act in this direction, he should not be surprised with the reaction of Israel,” – Israeli Government Press Office director Danny Siman said.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/03/42109.html