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Arafat schedules polls for Jan. 20

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA (BAHRAIN) SEPT 11. Amid signals that he was serious about curbing Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, has set January 20 as the date for parliamentary and presidential elections.

For the first time on Tuesday, the Fatah movement close to Mr. Arafat said in a draft statement that it would attempt to curb attacks by its cadre on Israeli civilians. Groups affiliated with Fatah, particularly the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, have carried out several attacks during the two years of the second intifada, including suicide bombings inside Israel.

Israeli authorities, however, found shortcomings in the Fatah statement, saying that the group had not ruled out violence either against Israeli soldiers or settlers in Palestinian areas. Nevertheless, the declaration to restrain violence is expected to spur on the dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority led by the Interior Minister, Abdel Rezak Yahaiyah, in its talks with Israelis, is focussing attention on Israel's pull out from the Palestinian city of Hebron.

The two sides could be looking at a partial Israeli withdrawal from Hebron, provided extremist violence in areas already handed over to the Palestinian security forces by Israel recently is kept down. Palestinian security forces have taken charge of Bethlehem and Gaza after the Israelis began to pull out gradually from there recently.

According to a statement from the office of the Israeli Foreign Minister, who has been deeply involved in these talks, "In every place where you (Palestinians) can prove that you are taking responsibility (for stopping terror attacks), we will pull out." Mr. Arafat's move to hold elections as early as January is, however, unlikely to go down well in Washington and Tel Aviv. Both the Israelis and the Americans have wanted more time to resurrect a new Palestinian leadership that can seriously challenge Mr. Arafat's authority. Not surprisingly, the spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said the "ground has to be prepared" before elections can be held.

Contrary to U.S. wishes, Mr. Arafat also appears to be distancing himself from the proposal for the creation of the post of Prime Minister with real powers. This move will reduce Mr. Arafat to a figurehead President without significant powers. Apart from signalling defiance to the Israelis and the Americans, Mr. Arafat's move to hold early elections is also a response to internal pressures within the Palestinian parliament for a cleaner administration.

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