From the Bridge for Sale Department: “Abbas declares end to violence against Israel,” from Reuters, with thanks to JJP Mackie:
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday proclaimed a formal end to fighting with Israel after more than four years of bloodshed.
“We have agreed with (Israeli) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to cease all acts of violence against the Israelis and the Palestinians wherever they are,” Abbas said in a statement at the completion of a landmark summit with Sharon in Egypt.
Abbas’s declaration was aimed at solidifying a tacit truce he coaxed from Palestinian militants shortly after he won election on January 9. Sharon was expected to proclaim a reciprocal end to Israeli military action against Palestinians in revolt.
Abbas, in a dramatic break from longtime predecessor Yasser Arafat, announced an end to all militant attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and in Israel.
That’s just swell, Mahmoud. Thanks. I guess Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah etc. will all be disbanding, eh?