Palestinian PM cuts ties with Muslim militants after bomb
( 2003-08-20 13:42) (Agencies)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday cut contacts with Islamic militants and vowed to crack down on them after a suicide bomber killed 20 people on a Jerusalem bus, Palestinian security officials said.
The reformist Abbas acted after overnight meetings with security officials in the wake of the blast which dealt a critical blow to a seven-week-old ceasefire underpinning a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.
"It was decided after these meetings that the Palestinian Authority would stop all forms of dialogue with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. It holds them responsible for harming the higher national interest of the Palestinian people," a senior security official told Reuters.
"Soon the Palestinian Authority will take security measures against Hamas and Islamic Jihad members," he added.
Such a step is a requirement of the peace plan which promises Palestinians a state by 2005, and has long been demanded by Israel.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad both said they carried out Tuesday's attack, which police said also wounded about 100 people.
It prompted Israel to suspend talks on a handover of several West Bank cities to Palestinian security control and again clamp a total closure on the territory.
The developments effectively froze a confidence-building process needed to advance the troubled peace plan.
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