Palestinians Deadlock On Truce

Hopes faded for Palestinians to offer a full-scale truce to Israel, as the
militant Hamas and Syrian-based factions said Saturday that they would
accept only a narrow cease-fire, halting attacks on civilians inside Israeli
territory.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia arrived in Cairo to push the
negotiators to call an end to all violence in exchange for Israel also
stopping military assaults. He said he expected some sort of cease-fire
offer to come out of the talks.

But after two days of debating various proposals, the Palestinian factions
remained deadlocked over the nature of the truce, with Egyptian mediators
pressing for a broader cease-fire that would also halt attacks against
Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction insisted on halting all
violence if Israel would agree to halt military operations and make
political compromises as well. The more militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad
were offering only to stop attacks on civilians inside Israel.

"We agreed to avoid civilians if the Israelis avoid our civilians," said
Islamic Jihad spokesman Mohammed al-Hindi. He added a broader cease-fire
could be discussed later if Israeli compliance was guaranteed by the
international community.

Israel has hinted it could reduce its own military actions if a truce is
declared, but it said the cease-fire must be total and be followed by the
dismantling of Palestinian militant groups.

But even proponents of the broader truce conceded that would probably not be
accepted.

"We cannot say we failed, but we didn't get to what we want," said Fatah
delegate Ahmed Ghneim. "Nothing is impossible but it is looking less likely
that we will have a comprehensive cease-fire."

A statement on the outcome of the Cairo negotiations was expected to be
released Sunday, but the delegates were still working out the wording.

The talks held in secret near the Great Pyramids include about a dozen
Palestinian factions. They were aimed at ending the more than three-year
Palestinian uprising, which has led to hundreds of deaths on both sides, in
suicide bombings aimed at Israelis and harsh reprisals by the Israeli
military.

Egyptian intelligence chief Brig. Omar Suleiman, who is overseeing the
negotiations, is to travel to Washington this week and had hoped to go with
a cease-fire proposal in hand to seek U.S. backing, putting pressure on
Israel to go along with a truce.

Egypt and Qureia both see a truce as a way to revive the "road map," the
latest Mideast peace plan being pushed by the United States and the
international community that would lead to creation of a Palestinian state
in 2005.

Arriving in Cairo on Saturday, Qureia said any truce would require Israel to
also pull back from violence. "There will be no free truce," he said. "But
there will be a truce and a mutual cease-fire."

Qureia further acknowledged that he had received no guarantees from Israel
that it would commit to a truce.

"There are no guarantees because there was no discussion with the Israelis
on this issue," he said. "We are eager first to come to an understanding
amongst ourselves and then we will talk it over with the Israelis."

Qureia has refused to launch a crackdown against militants, saying it could
lead to a civil war, given the militants' strong constituency among
Palestinians.

In June, the Palestinians declared a cease-fire on attacks within Israel
that also was negotiated in Egypt. Israel was not formally part of that
truce, and it collapsed after seven weeks, with Israel attacking
Palestinians and Palestinians resuming suicide bombings.

This time, Suleiman has urged the factions to adopt a total cease-fire and
give full authority to Qureia to work out the details with Israel. Such an
offer would have called on Israel to respond with broad initiatives as well.

The Palestinian demand was that Israel stop building a controversial
security barrier that, in part, cuts deep into the West Bank; withdraw from
Palestinian towns and cities reoccupied since fighting erupted in 2000; and
halt all aggression - including targeted killings of militants and military
incursions into Palestinian areas.