End violence, Sharon tells Arafat

JERUSALEM, APRIL 8. In a rare phone conversation, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, urged the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat, to put an end to the current spate of violence as Israeli forces remain on high alert during the week-long Jewish festival of Passover.

Thousands of Israel soldiers were put on alert all over the country fearing violence during the feast to commemorate the biblical exodus of Jewish people from Egypt. Mr. Sharon asked Mr. Arafat to stop the bloodshed when the Palestinian leader telephoned him to deliver a goodwill message on the festival which began yesterday, Israel radio said.

Urging resumption of peace negotiations, Mr. Arafat also made a courtesy call to the Israeli Opposition leader, Mr. Yaws Sarid, and invited the Leftist leader to meet him.

According to another report, Mr. Arafat also spoke with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Shimon Peres, and expressed hope that peace negotiations would start soon. However, close on the heels of the telephonic talk, there were reports of fresh clashes in the West Bank and Gaza which left at least three Palestinians wounded.

Israeli Army reported incidents of shooting near West Bank town of Ramallah and two Jewish settlements in the West Bank last night which follows the clashes between protesters and Israeli troops on Friday in which over 25 Palestinians were injured.

Sharon refutes

Mr. Sharon rejected international criticism of his plans to expand Jewish settlements in the Palestinian regions. His spokesman, speaking on Israeli radio, said such criticism would only foment further violence. Israel had ``every right'' to expand the settlements in face of their ``natural growth''. The international community has sharply criticised the Israeli government plans to build seven hundred new houses. The U.S. described the plan as provocative and inflammatory. The European Union and Russia also spoke out against an expansion of the settlements which they said was illegal under international law.

Bases destroyed

In Gaza, the Israeli Army destroyed overnight two installations of the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat's, elite force 17 Guard Unit in the Gaza Strip and four other Palestinian buildings, witnesses said today.

The Army confirmed bulldozing of two force 17 buildings and a Palestinian police post in response to ``terrorist attacks against civilians and Israeli soldiers,`` including mortar fire on the flashpoint Jewish settlement of Netzarim.

``The army wants to hit directly at those involved in terrorism and assure the security of civilians and soldiers,'' a military spokesman said.

- PTI, DPA

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Section  : International
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