Sunday, June 3 5:52 AM SGT

Arafat orders ceasefire after Israeli threats

JERUSALEM, June 2 (AFP) -

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ordered his security services Saturday to implement a total and immediate ceasefire, after Israel gave him 24 hours to carry out his promise that he would do "whatever is necessary" to achieve a ceasefire.

Following Israeli threats of a retaliation to a bombing in Tel Aviv and phone conversations with world leaders, Arafat ordered his services in a written document to implement this ceasefire "in all sectors under the Palestinian Authority's control, even by force", a high-ranking Palestinian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Palestinian security said in a statement that contacts were under way with "the national and Islamic factions to obtain an immediate implementation of this decision."

The statement was referring to the Palestinian movements, including Arafat's Fatah, and to the radical organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The two latter are responsible for the bulk of anti-Israeli attacks.

On Friday night, a suicide attack in Tel Aviv killed the bomber and 18 Israelis, in the deadliest anti-Israeli attack since 1997.

Following the bombing, a security cabinet meeting held Arafat responsible for the deterioration of the situation and said Israel will take "all necessary measures" to defend its citizens.

According to Israeli public radio, Israel's inner security cabinet also gave Arafat no more than 24 hours to prove he wants to work to calm the violent situation in the region, after the Palestinian leader pledged to do "whatever is necessary" to achieve a ceasefire.

Arafat condemned Friday's as-yet-unclaimed attack, which ripped through a line of Israeli teenagers waiting to enter a beachside night club, saying he was against any killing of civilians.

"We are ready to make the utmost effort to stop the bloodbath among our people and the Israeli people, and to do whatever is necessary for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire," Arafat told reporters.

According to the anonymous Palestinian official, "by ordering the ceasefire, Arafat met European, US and Arab requests."

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Palestinian leader spoke Saturday to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa.

According to a US official, Powell spoke on the phone to Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to discuss the "need for an immediate and unconditional halt to the violence".

Powell, who cancelled a visit to an Organization of American Statesmeeting in Costa Rica to monitor the situation in the Middle East, "encouraged Arafat to take concrete steps to achieve this goal", the official said on condition of anonymity.

The announcement of the ceasefire order comes after continued Israeli pressure on Arafat Saturday.

Dan Meridor, the head of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, urged the Palestinian leader not only to order a clear ceasefire, but also to take concrete measures for its application.

"The ball is in Arafat's court. The only way for him to avoid dangerous developments is to clearly order a ceasefire on his radio," Meridor told AFP.

He made his comments in spite of Palestinian protest against "Israeli threats" and a declaration by Israeli Arab deputy Ahmed Tibi, who said that Arafat was already working for a ceasefire.

"He clearly asked for a ceasefire to be implemented and nobody should prevent it", Tibi said after a meeting with the Palestinian leader.

The Gaza Strip was eerily silent on Saturday, with Palestinians evacuating public buildings in fear that Israel would abandon its 10-day-old unilateral ceasefire and come at them with all guns blazing, witnesses said.

In Israel, seven people were lightly injured Saturday in clashes with police as hundreds of enraged Israelis sought revenge against Arabs after the bomb blast, throwing rocks at a mosque near the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa.

The Israeli army said Saturday it had imposed a blockade on all Palestinian towns and villages in the neighbouring West Bank following the bombing and advised all Palestinians to leave Israel immediately.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001