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Arafat Condemns Terror Attacks Against Israel VOA News 3 Feb 2002 15:56 UTC 
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat says he is determined to put an end to all terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.
In an article published Sunday in The New York Times, Mr. Arafat says terrorist groups "do not represent the Palestinian people, or their legitimate aspirations for freedom." He says Palestinians want to end their conflict with Israel, and that he and his negotiators are ready to meet Israeli leaders to negotiate a peace deal.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his cabinet Sunday that he would not rule out a second round of high-level meetings with senior Palestinian officials.
At the cabinet meeting, Mr. Sharon confirmed he held candid discussions last week with three leading Palestinian figures, including the deputy head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. He said the talks focused on ways to end more than 16 months of fighting that has left more than one thousand people dead and thousands more injured.
Israeli media reports say the Palestinian officials demanded that Israel stop the planned killings of Palestinians suspected of plotting deadly attacks against Israeli civilians.
Mr. Sharon reportedly told the Palestinians he would do so only if the Palestinian leadership made a serious effort to halt the terrorist attacks. He also said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who remains under virtual house arrest, will not be allowed to travel until he hands over those responsible for last year's assassination of Israel's tourism minister, Rehavam Ze'evi. Mr. Sharon is due in Washington this week for talks with President Bush.
In related developments, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the speaker of the Palestinian legislature, Ahmed Quray, met for another round of talks aimed at ending more than 16 months of Middle East violence. Their second meeting in as many days took place late Saturday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in New York. After the talks, Mr. Peres said the two sides did not reach any conclusions about how to get back to the peace process.
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