Palestinian Leaders Keep Lid on Anti-U.S. Unrest

Palestinian Leaders Keep Lid on Anti-U.S. Unrest
GAZA (Islamweb & News Agencies) - The Palestinian Authority kept a tight lid Friday on unrest against the bombing of Afghanistan, and Palestinian officials said the United States and Britain were preparing to revive stalled Middle East peacemaking.Palestinian police briefly detained three foreign reporters covering a rally held by the militant Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials have tried to muffle media coverage of rallies in support of Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden.
Palestinian officials said the United States and Britain -- trying to woo Arab and Islamic support for their global anti-terror coalition -- would soon begin a new initiative to end more than a year of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. (Read photo caption below)

Some Arabs and Muslims say terrorism can only be wiped out when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ends. Bin Laden has said Americans will not know peace until the Palestinians do.
The officials said Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London in the coming days about a new Middle East peace bid.
But in Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States did not have a plan or peace proposals, other than a return to the Mitchell committee recommendations of April.
The committee, led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, called for a cease-fire, a cooling-off period and confidence-building measures leading to new peace talks.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Palestinian officials called on President George W. Bush October 12, 2001 to produce deeds instead of words to back U.S. support for the creation of a Palestinian state. Bush issued his strongest endorsement so far of a Palestinian state during an October 11 news conference. An Israeli tank refuels at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron, Al-Khalil, October 11, 2001. Israeli occupation troops remained in positions in Palestinian-ruled areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Hebron, raids condemned by the Palestinians as a violation of the cease-fire deal. (Nayef Hashlamoun/Reuters)

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