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Truce agreement failed to reach
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Israel has accepted in principle a revised US plan for ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians to end the eight-month-old violence, Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sa'ar announced yesterday morning.
The decision was made after security consultation Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had made with Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, and other top security officials, according to a statement issued by Sa'ar.
The revised plan, which integrated both sides' reservations for the truce proposals, was submitted to Israel and Palestinians by US Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet in their three-way security meeting at Jerusalem's King David hotel on Monday night.
The meeting failed to reach any agreement on the ceasefire, which prompted Tenet to extend his stay in the region for one more day.
“His (Arafat's) response to Tenet will bear witness to his sincerity in stopping terror attacks or not,” the source added.
The Palestinians are scheduled to give a final answer to the plan yesterday afternoon after Palestinian security officials consult with Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah. According to Israel media reports, the plan calls on both sides to resume their security co-ordination and joint patrols.
Over 570 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed in the violence between the two sides in the past eight months.
(SD-Agencies)
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