Palestinians 'still seeking truce'

By Nick Thorpe
BBC, Ramallah

The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Nabil Shaath, has reiterated that the Palestinian side is seeking a comprehensive ceasefire with Israel.

The last ceasefire collapsed after a few weeks

The Palestinians have been speaking about a new ceasefire overseen by international monitors for several days.

The foreign minister of the present caretaker government, Nabil Shaath, said the ceasefire should be qualitatively different to the truce which collapsed four weeks ago.

"We are talking about a permanent ceasefire this time, not a temporary ceasefire and we are talking about the ceasefire between the Palestinian Authority and Israel and not between the Palestinian authority and the Palestinian factions.

"Of course we have to find a way that the factions will commit themselves and then comply but the ceasefire would be between us and the Israeli authority and it should be reciprocal.

Israeli scepticism

What is different in this offer is that the last ceasefire was declared unilaterally by Palestinian militants - the factions referred to by Mr Shaath.

But a new ceasefire offer, which does not guarantee a cessation of activity by those groups, is unlikely to be considered by the Israelis.

They have insisted all along that police will only be given a chance if the Palestinian Government disarms the militants as required under the international peace plan, known as the roadmap.

In the meantime, the Palestinian Prime Minister designate, Ahmed Qurei, is expected to travel to Gaza for consultations with Palestinian leaders there before announcing the makeup of his new government.