Arafat, Militants Temporarily Resolve Dispute

[bemildred]

Arafat's determined struggle for peace continues ...
At least it doesn't look like we are going back to bus bombings
just yet.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian militants and President Yasser Arafat temporarily settled a dispute on
Sunday that had threatened a cease-fire with Israel, Palestinian officials said.

Under the deal, the 20 men from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades wanted by Israel will remain for now in Arafat's
headquarters in the Israeli-surrounded West Bank city of Ramallah pending a possible future move to the town
of Jericho.

Arafat had been sheltering the militants in the "muqata" compound but confined them to a single room on
Saturday after Israel demanded they be sent to jail in Jericho as a precondition for an Israeli pullback from
Ramallah that would ease his own confinement.

Palestinian Security Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan said he and Israeli Major-General Amos Gilad failed in
talks on Sunday to agree on further Israeli withdrawals from West Bank cities under a U.S.-backed peace plan.

Reuters

[Darranar]

1. Key word: Temporarily...

This won't last. Perhaps I'm simply a pessimist, but that's the conclusion I've reached.