Palestinian leaders decided in the absence of President Yasser Arafat yesterday to carry out a plan to restore law and order in the West Bank and Gaza, a government minister said.
It was the first major decision announced by the Palestinian leadership since Arafat was flown to hospital in Paris on Oct. 29.
Officials said the plan was drafted in March and is more concerned with ending local lawlessness than reining in militants waging a four-year-old uprising -- a long-standing Israeli and international demand.
Although the plan was approved months ago by various armed factions, no action had been taken.
Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said it would now take effect immediately.
It calls for more security forces to be deployed and better coordination among them. It demands that militants stop carrying arms unless confronting Israeli forces and says the police, rather than gunmen, should deal with disturbances.
Arafat and other officials often promised action on the security front, but little ever happened. Arafat complained that the Palestinians were hamstrung by Israel's destruction of their forces during the uprising.
While briefing Israel's Cabinet, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said there were signs that Palestinian leaders were trying to curtail violence.
"There are indications that they are trying to close ranks and stop the Hamas terrorism, but there is no way of knowing if this will succeed," he said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie came under pressure from the armed factions on Saturday to give them decision-making powers in a temporary unified leadership they want if Arafat dies. He did not say he had agreed.
Yasser Arafat lay critically ill with liver failure yesterday and his condition was not improving, a Palestinian official said.
Israel, meanwhile, said it had finalized plans to bury the Palestinian president in the Gaza Strip.
Arafat wants to be buried in Jerusalem, which is holy both to Muslims and Jews, but Israeli officials refuse to bury him in land they say is part of Israel's indivisible capital.
Aides gave conflicting reports about the 75-year-old leader's health and concern grew about who will succeed him and the fate of Middle East peace efforts that have stalled.
Some aides said he was not in a coma. Others said his condition was so bad that he might be moved to Cairo, from where he could be flown home more quickly if he died.
"He has liver failure. His condition is not improving," said a Palestinian official in the West Bank who declined to be named. "One option being considered is moving him to Cairo."
The official said any decision to move Arafat could be taken only by the Palestinian leadership. He added that a low count of platelets, which help the blood clot, meant blood transfusions were proving difficult.
Doctors have ruled out leukemia but remain puzzled why Arafat's health deteriorated sharply last week at the military hospital in a southwest Paris suburb where he has been having tests since he was airlifted there from the West Bank.
A row is brewing over where to bury the man who personifies the struggle to establish a Palestinian state, a dream that Arafat has not fulfilled amidst a 4-year-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
"The defense establishment has completed preparations for an Arafat funeral in Gaza," political sources quoted Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as telling a Cabinet meeting.
"The moment we receive a Palestinian Authority request on the matter, we will implement final preparations. We still await a formal announcement of Arafat's death."
Israel allowed the Palestinian leader to be flown out of the West Bank more than a week ago. Returning him from France to Gaza would require similar permission.
Mohammad Dahlan, Arafat's former security chief in Gaza, said he would travel to Jordan during the day and then go to the West Bank to brief Palestinian leaders on the president's health. He was then expected to go to Cairo.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, on a visit to China, urged the Palestinians not to abandon efforts to end decades of conflict if Arafat dies.
"We would like to see a moderate Palestinian leadership that is taking the lead and moving towards a full implementation of the road map [international peace plan]," Shalom said.
Also See Story:
Successor to Yasser Arafat will `likely' not be elected
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS