Palestinian Group May Halt Violence
GAZA CITY -- A militant group linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction announced Saturday it was ready to stop violence if Israel halted military operations. Israeli officials indicated they were considering the idea.
At a news conference, a masked spokesman for the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, identified only as Abu Mohammed, said the group would accept a cease-fire "if it is mutual and if Israel also commits to it."
Two advisers to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said a halt in Palestinian attacks could prompt Israel to hold back. "If there will be quiet on the Palestinian side, then there will be quiet on our side, because all of our military operations are only meant to stop terrorism," said Zalman Shoval, a Sharon adviser. Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, head of the National Security Council, told Israel Radio that quiet would be met by quiet.
The statements indicate Abbas is making progress in his attempt to persuade armed groups to halt attacks, a first step toward ending more than four years of bloodshed.
the middle east
• MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- Muslim pilgrims performed final rites of the hajj, with many praising its safety following fears of stampedes or al Qaeda strikes.
More than 2.5 million people took part in the hajj, which last year was marred by a stampede that killed about 250 people. New measures by Saudi officials have averted deadly crushes this year. Pilgrims will start heading home late Sunday.
• TEHRAN -- Iran's hard-line leadership ruled out allowing women to run for president in June elections, denying reports in the state-run media earlier in the day that it had decided to allow female candidates. It was not clear whether the denial meant the Guardian Council was reversing itself or whether the earlier announcement was a mistake.
ASIA
• MALE, Maldives -- Police arrested 20 opposition party supporters during the parliamentary election in Maldives. Critics denounced the election as rigged, accusing the government of linking aid for tsunami survivors to favorable votes.
The archipelago nation held the election three weeks late because of the Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed at least 82 people here. A government official said the detainees were backers of the exiled opposition Maldives Democratic Party who tried to take a video camera into a polling booth.
AFRICA
• ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Ivory Coast has been authorized to repair its fleet of crippled military aircraft in a conciliatory gesture by U.N. and French forces after the army pledged not to use its warplanes to resume hostilities. French forces in the West African country severely damaged the small fleet after Ivorian jets killed nine French peacekeepers on Nov. 6.
• MAPUTO, Mozambique -- Mozambique's most-wanted fugitive has been extradited from Canada for retrial. Anibal dos Santos, sentenced to 28 years for the 2000 killing of journalist Carlos Cardoso after a trial that delved into a web of organized crime and corruption and implicated the president's eldest son, fled prison in May. A retrial was ordered because he had been tried in absentia after a previous escape.
-- From News Services
