Sharon warns Abbas

Mahmud Abbas,Ariel Sharon

Israel warns of stormy future
By Hazel Ward in Jerusalem
March 2, 2005
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=2750934
ISRAEL has warned Mahmud Abbas of a bleak future unless he crushes militants, as the Palestinian leader basks in global support for a raft of reforms set to create a viable Palestinian state.

"If the Palestinian Authority will not start acting against the terrorists, the future will be very bleak for Abu Mazen (Mr Abbas)," a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said.
Five Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last Friday, seriously denting mutual efforts to observe calm since Mr Abbas and Mr Sharon declared an end to hostilities at a Middle East summit early last month.
"If these organisations feel they can get away with things like this now, they will resist him even more in the future," the official said..
Israel delivered its ominous warning as Mr Abbas was set to hold talks with top EU officials in Brussels, with welcome international credibility tucked under his arm, after unveiling an ambitious reform program in London.

In the wake of the Tel Aviv attack - claimed by the radical Islamic Jihad faction - Mr Abbas has vowed to exert a "100 per cent effort in the domain of security".
He was set to meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels.
The EU is the biggest single source of aid to the Palestinian Authority.
On the ground, the Palestinian interior ministry confirmed that all heads of security in the West Bank stronghold of Jenin had been ordered to take early retirement after militants opened fire on a ministerial car on Tuesday.
All 11 chiefs of the security services would be dismissed, a spokesman said.
The spokesman denied reports that the Jenin governor had been similarly sacked.
"Any official who will not act according to his duties and responsibilities, will be punished," spokesman Colonel Adnan Admiri said.
The security overhaul came as Mr Abbas won support from the European Union, the UN and the US for an ambitious package of reforms intended to create a viable Palestinian state living in peace with Israel.
Participants at a London conference hailed his reform blueprint as "a major step in implementing its roadmap commitments" but similarly said they "urged and expect action by Israel" in relation to its own peace pledges.
The Jewish state did not attend the meeting, regarded by the Palestinians as a prelude to a full-dress peace conference France offered to host in the second half of this year.
Instead, Israel kept up the heat on arch-foe Syria amid growing Western pressure on Damascus, dismissing comments from President Bashar al-Assad that he would recall troops from Lebanon within months.
"We will believe it when we see it," the Sharon aide said.
In an interview with US magazine Time, Mr Assad said a withdrawal of the 14,000 troops still in Lebanon "should be very soon and maybe in the next few months".
Israel, the US and France have been exerting major pressure on Syria quit Lebanon following the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice followed Israeli officials in blaming Syria over the Tel Aviv bombing, claiming the attack was planned by Islamic Jihad's leadership in Damascus.
Syria denied any connection with the nightclub bombing and insisted Islamic Jihad's office in Damascus had been closed.
On the ground, Israeli troops also arrested an Islamic Jihad militant in the West Bank, although it was not immediately clear if he was wanted in connected with the Tel Aviv attack, military sources said.
The suspect was picked up near Tulkarem, one of the five West Bank towns Mr Sharon has promised to hand over to Palestinian security control.
On the diplomatic front, Jordan announced that Foreign Minister Hani Mulki will visit Israel Saturday on the first such trip in four years, reflecting warming ties and tentative steps toward peace.
"The aim of the visit is to push forward the Middle East peace process and to urge the two sides to abide by the terms of the roadmap" for a peaceful settlement, ministry spokesman Rajab Sukayri told AFP.
Mr Mulki will also discuss "Jordan's vital and national interests in connection with the final status talks" between Israel and the Palestinians, "particularly those concerning Jerusalem, refugees, water and borders", Mr Sukayri said.
He would also seek Israel's commitment to release dozens of Jordanians held in its jails.
AFP