Palestinian Authority Issues Weapons Ban

JERUSALEM -- The Palestinian Authority issued a ban Thursday on civilians openly carrying unlicensed weapons in another sign of a gradual crackdown on militant groups and an effort to re-establish order on lawless streets.

 There was no word on how Palestinian police, who are unarmed in West Bank cities occupied by Israel's army, would enforce the new edict. Authorities reined in militant groups in the 1990s using the same tactic, seen as an indirect way of confronting militias without provoking internal clashes. 



 Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas repeatedly has said he would not arrest militants nor confiscate their weapons, and he is trying to secure a cease-fire to end attacks on Israelis. He has deployed armed officers in northern Gaza to quell rocket fire on a nearby Israeli town. 



 Abbas told reporters in Ramallah that he needs a formal declaration from Israel on a truce in order to bring a halt to violence. ``The Israelis have to respond quickly,'' he said. ``We cannot wait for a week or two.'' 



 Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, said in an interview Thursday night that Israeli officials told him during discussions on Wednesday that they would consider signing a truce declaration and would have an answer next week. 



 ``This is essential,'' Erekat said. ``The public on both sides must understand that this is a new day. When both leaders declare officially on the same day and in the same communique that they will stop the violence against the other, then we have a real chance.'' 



 But Israeli leaders Thursday repeated their past objections to signing a cease-fire, saying that they want attacks to stop first, and that it is up to Palestinian officials to determine how that is accomplished. 



 ``Negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist organizations are an internal Palestinian issue,'' said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. ``What we said is that if as a result of these arrangements it will be quiet on the Palestinians side, we will respond to that by refraining from military activity.'' 



 Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called a cease-fire a ``ticking bomb which will blow up in our faces.'' Speaking to Israel Radio after talking by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he said, ``A cease-fire as such is not our goal.'' 



 Both sides are discussing a variety of issues. Palestinian and Israeli leaders met several times on Wednesday to discuss security arrangements, the further deployment of Palestinian police in southern Gaza and a possible summit between Sharon and Abbas. 



 In a speech in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, Sharon said he felt great strides were being made. 



 ``I believe that the conditions are now ripe to allow us and the Palestinians to reach a historic breakthrough in the relations between us,'' he said. 



 U.S. Middle East envoy William Burns met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia shortly after the ban on weapons was signed and also expressed hope. 



 ``We have no illusions that such a moment of opportunity is fragile,'' he told reporters. ``The United States is doing everything it can to help.'' 



 Thursday, Palestinians said that the Israelis were preparing to pull troops out of four West Bank cities and that they were planning to release between 500 and 900 prisoners as a goodwill gesture leading up to a summit. 



 But Gissin cautioned that talks are preliminary, and he accused the Palestinians of trying to advance their standing through the media by exaggerating the accomplishments made during preliminary discussions. 



 Israeli officials said Thursday night that hundreds of armed Palestinian police had begun taking up positions in southern Gaza, where they are to stop militant attacks on Jewish settlements, roads and army posts. 



 In northern Gaza, the militant group Hamas suspended attacks during the cease-fire talks, thus avoiding a confrontation with Palestinian police. The situation in the south is more volatile, with many active militant groups and splinter groups. Hours before Palestinian police deployed, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian who they said was running toward a restricted area near a settlement. 



 Erekat said the order to ban the display of unlicensed weapons fulfills a campaign pledge by Abbas to restore order and a signal to Israel that he is serious. During the campaign last month, militants appeared alongside Abbas at speeches and rallies brandishing assault weapons. 



 ``The decree today is a clear indication of what is going on within our ranks,'' Erekat said. ``I detect a new atmosphere between us and the Israelis. We both realize that the Israelis and the Palestinians are demanding a new chapter. And we are going to give them that.'' 



 In a further signal that he is serious, Abbas said Thursday that officials have picked Nasser Yousef as the new interior minister, putting him in charge of the various security branches that are supposed to be streamlined into three branches. 



 Yousef was in charge of cracking down on militants, particularly Hamas, in the 1990s under orders from Yasser Arafat during the early days of an interim peace accord. The man who implemented the orders, Mohammed Dahlan, also is poised to hold a senior position in Abbas' new government. 



 Thursday in Gaza, Hamas participated in municipal elections in 10 districts where more than 400 candidates vied for 118 council seats. Hamas had a strong showing in similar local elections in the West Bank last month.