Palestinian Militants Tell PA They Won't Hand Over Weapons

(AP/Ha'aretz) A new low-key attempt by the PA to disarm at least some militants has already run into trouble: gunmen said Wednesday they'll keep their weapons out of sight, but won't hand them over. "We agreed to hide our weapons, to keep them out of public view, but we are not going to hand them over to the Palestinian Authority," said Kamal Ghanem, an Al-Aqsa Brigades fugitive. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said a demand that gunmen hand over their weapons "is not acceptable." Abbas is not expected to crack down on the gunmen. Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres Tuesday urged Abbas to disarm the militants, saying a temporary truce was insufficient. "They have an agreement but there are also rifles and the combination of an agreement and rifles is not a very pleasant one," Peres said.


2005-04-07 00:00:00

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