Arafat seeks new militant truce

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, under pressure to help save a Middle East peace plan, urged militants yesterday to reinstate a truce cancelled after Israel assassinated a Hamas leader.

Arafat prefaced his appeal by voicing readiness to take action against militants but only if Israel halted attacks on those spearheading a 35-month-old uprising for statehood.

"President Yasser Arafat calls upon all the Palestinian factions to reiterate their commitment to the truce to give a chance to international peace efforts to implement the 'road map' which the Israeli government refuses to abide by," Arafat said in a statement issued by his office.

Israel discounted Mr Arafat's call as "propaganda" and said it would continue targeting militants until the Palestinian Authority dismantles their organisations.

"We have no choice but to act with severity against the terrorist infrastructure... As long as (Palestinians) don't dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, there will not be a continuation of this (peace) process," Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel Radio.

Senior political leader of the militant group Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, blasted Arafat's move: "Any call to strike at the movements or the resistance is a very dangerous call."

Militants last week cancelled the seven-week-old truce after Israel killed Ismail Abu Shanab, a Hamas political leader, in response to a bombing that killed 21 people in Jerusalem.