Qurei to present disengagement plan to Rice

[Gimel]

Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei will present his own six month time frame for the IDF withdrawal from Gaza, telling US National Security advisor Rice Monday in Berlin that Sharon's one and a half year proposal would be too long and lead to more violence which could complicate the withdrawal, Palestinian officials said Sunday.

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"If it will take a year and a half, we will see more and more cases like the grenades which killed 13 soldiers (last week)" , a PA source said. Qurei will urge Rice to back a mutual ceasefire between Israel and the PA and send US mediators to work it out – similar to the Tenet paper.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said he told US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jordan on Saturday that militant group Islamic Jihad and Hamas told Egyptian mediators they are ready to commit to a cease-fire. "We told Powell that ... we are ready for such a cease-fire if the United States is able to bring an Israeli commitment to such an agreement," he said. Qurei will also ask Rice for US guarantees that the withdrawal will be a full withdrawal and lead to more withdrawals from the West Bank as outlined in the roadmap.

Qurei will also tell Rice that the PA is ready and able to enforce security in Gaza, if Israel agrees to withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip and gives up sole control of the crossing points and ports", the well informed PA source said.

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