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President renews relations with Mexico and Canada
President Bush meets with Canadian Prime Minister and Mexcan President over border control and trade issues.
By JENNIFER LOVEN
The Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 21- Palestinian officials took a tentative first step toward disarming militants, banning them from carrying guns in public and requiring all weapons to be registered, according to a new directive.
Palestinian security officers raises the Palestinian flag at a checkpoint near an Israeli army watchtower, background, at the entrance of the West Bank town of Jericho, Thursday March 17, 2005. Jericho reverted back to Palestinian control Wednesday being the first of five West Bank towns planned for transfer in the coming weeks, part of an attempt to restore the situation that existed before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)According to senior Palestinian security officials, the Interior Ministry distributed letters outlining weapons restrictions to militants in the West Bank. The AP obtained a copy of the letter Monday.
Militants said they would not comply until Israel completes a promised withdrawal from West Bank towns.
The move was seen as a concession to the United States and Israel, who have long demanded the Palestinians crack down on militant groups. Palestinians leader Mahmoud Abbas has preferred to use persuasion to get the gunmen to lay down their arms.
Israel welcomed the move. After four years of bloodshed, Israel has made disarming of militants and dismantling violent groups like Hamas a precondition for progress along the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan toward a Palestinian state.
The directive limits militants to a single weapon and bars them from loading the weapons or carrying them in public. It also obligates militants to license the weapons with the ministry and forbids them to change the serial numbers on the guns.
Many militants possess more than one weapon, and gunmen have become folk heroes by brandishing their arms openly on the streets and firing in the air at marches and funerals.
The Palestinian Interior Ministry has asked militants to sign the letter and commit to the process.
Leaders of the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades confirmed they had received the document and said they were considering the offer.
However, Kamel Ghannam, an al Aqsa leader in Ramallah, said militants would not sign the pledge until Israel carries out a planned military withdrawal from five West Bank cities.
"Once Israel withdraws, we'll be able to sign it," Ghannam said.
Sharon and Abbas agreed on Feb. 8 that Israel would withdraw from five West Bank towns it entered after the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in September 2000: Ramallah, Qalqiliya, Tulkarem, Jericho and Bethlehem.
Israel handed Jericho last week, and on Monday, the two sides agreed on transfer of Tlkarem on Tuesday.
Story Produced by: Doug Bell
