Arafat Condemns Terror But Not Bombs

Yasser Arafat told the Palestinian parliament Monday that he condemns "every act of terror against Israeli civilians" and that peace was still attainable.

"The peace of the brave is still ahead of us and is not behind us," Arafat told lawmakers in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "After 50 years of struggle and bloody suffering, enough is enough. Enough of the struggle and enough bloodshed."

However, Arafat stopped short of calling for an end to suicide attacks against Israelis, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger, as did Palestinian Interior Minister Abdel Razzak al-Yahya last week. An earlier draft of his speech had echoed al-Yahya.

Neither Israel nor other Palestinian groups were impressed by the speech.

Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the speech was meaningless and that Palestinian reform would not work with Arafat in power. "Peace and reforms can only happen when Arafat is not there," Gissin said.

Paul Patin, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said Arafat would be judged by his actions, not his words.

In the Gaza Strip, Ismail Abu Shanab, a spokesman for the Islamic militant group Hamas, said Arafat's speech was a disappointment and that he had no clear strategy on how to confront Israel.

"We need to...find a way to challenge the Israeli aggression," said Abu Shanab, whose group has carried out scores of suicide attacks that have killed more than 250 Israeli civilians in the past two years.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior leader of Hamas criticized Arafat for drawing a comparison "between the resistance and the occupation."

He said Arafat's speech would have no impact on the ground. "Occupation is the source of all violence," he said in Gaza.

Arafat also condemned the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, saying they damaged the Palestinian cause, and joked that he is willing to give up executive powers if asked.

"I wish you would, and give me a rest," he said with a smile, eliciting laughter from assembled lawmakers.

Arafat also said presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections would be held at the beginning of January. The United States has been seeking a delay in presidential elections in hopes of winning Palestinian agreement to installing a prime minister who would take over day-to-day affairs of government and turning Arafat into a figurehead. Arafat has resisted the idea of appointing a prime minister.

His aides have said he will run for re-election, and opinion polls show him the clear favorite to win.

Addressing the Israeli public, Arafat called for new peace negotiations and said: "I would like to say that we want to achieve peace with you. We want security and stability for us and for you."

Arafat's appearance before the legislature, his first in 18 months, was considered a key test of his standing. He was seeking approval for a new Cabinet and for reform plans sought by the United States and Israel.

The parliament convened shortly after 60 Israeli tanks raided the Gaza Strip. Two Palestinians were killed.

Arafat's popularity has plummeted in recent months. Shunned by the United States, he has largely been confined to his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

In his speech Monday, Arafat said he condemned "every act of terror against Israeli civilians," but did not say explicitly that the attacks must be halted. He said such attacks served Israel's interest by drawing attention away from the suffering of the Palestinians under Israel's occupation. He asked legislators to uphold the national interest, but did not specify what this would mean.

A draft version of the speech obtained by The Associated Press contained several paragraphs in which Arafat was to have called for a ban on suicide bombings in Israel, but the speech Arafat delivered did not include such an explicit call.

Arafat said the world expects from the Palestinians a "clear stance and firm answers regarding peace with Israel and the Israeli peace, as well as with regard to democracy and reforms in our society."

The 88-seat legislature has convened only sporadically, and usually with a low turnout, during the past two years of fighting because of Israeli travel restrictions.

Israeli hard-liners criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for permitting the session to go ahead, arguing it would give new credibility to Arafat at a time when Israel is trying to sideline him. Sharon in the past has blocked the parliament from meeting.

The session opened at Arafat's sandbagged headquarters, which has been heavily damaged in several Israeli raids. In a first step, legislators re-elected their speaker, Ahmed Qureia, by an overwhelming margin.

Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, was a key player in earlier peace accords with Israel. Qureia is considered a confidant of Arafat — but also a possible successor to the Palestinian leader.

After Arafat's speech, lawmakers were to move to the parliament building in Ramallah.

Arafat advisers said the Palestinian leader chose not to leave his headquarters for Monday's session because he wanted to avoid possibly embarrassing encounters with Israeli troops. Israeli troops reoccupied Ramallah and several other West Bank cities in June, as part of an offensive against Palestinian militants.

In other developments Monday, a senior Palestinian official said Sharon would meet in the coming days with Arafat's deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, to try to find a way to end the fighting. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, is seen by the United States and Israel as a moderate.

Sharon's aides declined comment.

However, Sharon has recently he has been contacted by a senior Palestinian official and was ready to meet with him. Sharon did not name the official, but said it was not Arafat.

In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, troops blew up the house of a suspected Palestinian militant in the Boureij refugee camp. During the operation, about 60 tanks encircled Boureij and two adjacent camps.

The army said the suspect, a fugitive, is responsible for firing mortar bombs and for an attack on a tank in February that killed three soldiers. During the raid, troops found a building used to manufacture anti-tank missiles and mortar bombs and blew it up, the army said in a statement.

Tensions have been running high in Gaza, despite efforts to turn the strip into a test area for a gradual cease-fire. On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was to meet with five Palestinian Cabinet ministers to try to revive the truce deal.

The Palestinian parliament was to discuss Palestinian reforms demanded by Israel and the United States as part of a shake-up of the Palestinian Authority. Elections are to be a centerpiece of the reforms.

Arafat was also expected to present a new Cabinet for approval.

The Cabinet reshuffle took place in June, and would have required immediate parliament approval. However, legislators had been unable to meet because of Israeli travel restrictions, and the new Cabinet ministers began working without a nod from the legislature. Several legislators said Monday they would withhold approval, either because they disapproved of some of the new ministers or because they felt the parliament had been slighted by the Cabinet.

Seventy-five legislators participated in Monday's session — including 28 by video conference from Gaza City. Israel had barred 12 Gaza legislators from traveling to the West Bank, arguing they were involved in violence.