Abbas Threatens Force Against Militants

[seriousstan]

JERUSALEM, 29 April 2005 — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas threatened to use “an iron fist” against anyone who violates a cease-fire with Israel, his toughest warning against militants since taking office in January.

In a speech to Palestinian police, Abbas also pledged to maintain quiet during the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip planned this summer. “We have to give them a calm departure,” he said, according to a summary of the speech published yesterday by the Palestinian government news agency Wafa.

Abbas has been under heavy pressure from Israel and the United States to rein in Palestinian militants, who had a relatively free hand under Abbas’ predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat. But so far, Abbas has preferred to negotiate with the armed groups.

Abbas last month won the agreement of most militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to observe a truce with Israel. While there has been a sharp drop in violence, militants have fired several rockets at Jewish settlements in Gaza and an Israeli border town in recent days.

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[maddezmom]

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