A new era - Abbas
2005-02-14 12:48
New York - War with Israel will be over "when the Israelis declare that they will comply" with the agreement made at Sharm-el Sheik last week, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview published here on Monday.
In a 40-minute interview with the New York Times in his Gaza office late on Saturday, Abbas spoke "with surprising optimism" and showed pride for having convinced radical groups to uphold the truce he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared at their first meeting on Tuesday.
Hamas made a commitment to him to run in July elections, continuing its "conversion into a political party," Abbas told the Times.
War will end "when the Israelis declare that they will comply with the agreement I made in Sharm el Sheik, and today our comrades in Hamas and Jihad said they are committed to the truce, the cooling down of the whole situation, and I believe we will start a new era," Abbas said.
- AFP