Sharon asks PLO to end incitement against Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asked the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to end anti-Israel propaganda incitement to prove its readiness for peace, Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported Friday.

"The poisonous incitement on television and in the educational system, demonizing Israel, Israelis and Jews, is the root cause of the suicide bombers and the terrorism, and it is more dangerous than any weapon," Sharon was quoted as saying.

Facing pressure to abandon his unilateral disengagement plan in favor of bilateral talks with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Sharon said Israel would not give up its basic demands for the PNA to fulfill its road-map commitments to confiscate illegal weapons and dismantle terrorist organizations.

Sharon reiterated that he had no intention of forgoing the disengagement plan, "neither for the visions of the Left nor the forestalling of the Right."

He also called upon Israelis not to worry about pressure on Israel or even the possibility of militant attacks, weapons smuggling or European sanctions.

After appointed as the PLO executive committee chairman, Mahmoud Abbas has been urging the Palestinian militant groups to abandon armed attacks, in a bid to pave the way for the scheduled presidential elections on Jan. 9, 2005.

Source: Xinhua