14/03/2004 21:13 The Palestinian Authority condemned a double suicide bombing that killed 11 people at the Ashdod Port on Sunday and urged Palestinians to stop such attacks immediately. The Palestinian government also urged Israel to commit itself to a ceasefire „to break the cycle of violence” and to implement the U.S.-backed „road map” for peace in the Middle East.
Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said the bombings were „a response to the Israeli crimes against our people,” and said attacks would continue until Israel withdraws from Gaza. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called of a planned meeting with his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qureia. The meeting had been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. Aides to Sharon and Qureia had met Sunday shortly before the attack and planned to meet again Monday to finalize plans for the leaders’ first summit since Qureia took office in October, but it is likely that the meeting will not take place. After the bombing, Israeli officials called off the preparatory meeting and the summit. Taking part in Sunday’s meeting were the Prime Minister’s Bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, political advisor Shalom Tourgeman, and media advisor Asi Sharif. The Palestinians were represented by top negotiator Saeb Erekat, Qureia’s bureau chief Hassan Abu Libdeh, and Salah Alian. David Baker, an official at the prime minister’s offices, said Sunday that „The Palestinians continue to cling on to the terror options and are not willing to pass up any opportunity to strike at Israeli targets wherever they may be. This misguided strategy will get them nowhere and only serves to prevent any progress between both sides.” Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky said Sunday that the assailants „found a weak point and exploited it.” „A port, by nature, is a very busy place,” he said. „There are many people coming and going. It is impossible to seal the entire country hermetically.” Shalom: Mubarak pressured PA to hold Sharon-Qureia meeting Finance Minister Silvan Shalom told the cabinet on Sunday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told him last week during a meeting in Cairo that he had pressured the Palestinians to hold the meeting between Qureia and Sharon. According to Shalom, Mubarak expressed concern at the deteriorating security situation in the Palestinian Authority in general and in the Gaza Strip in particular, and offered to help by sending specialists and advisers to the area, and by redeployment along the border to fight weapons smuggling from Egypt to the Strip. Shalom said such redeployment would demand that the peace agreement between the two countries would be revised. However, Shalom said, the Egyptians do not intend to deploy Egyptian troops inside the Strip in the event of an Israeli withdrawal. Shalom added that Mubarak asked Israel to lift restrictions on PA Chairman Yasser Arafat’s freedom of movement. Shalom said he objected to the request and stressed that „Arafat was responsible for torpedoing any attempt to negotiate with the Palestinians, and any gesture toward him would only cause damage.” BPI.
