Arafat says occupation must end before elections

Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat sent mixed signals today over his pledge to call new elections, saying a free ballot could…

Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat sent mixed signals today over his pledge to call new elections, saying a free ballot could be held only after the end of Israeli occupation.

Keeping military pressure on the Palestinians, Israeli forces pushed back into the Jenin refugee camp in a sweep for Palestinian militants, returning to the scene of the fiercest fighting in Israel's recent West Bank offensive.

Smoke rose from several buildings, but there were no immediate reports of casualties in the assault, which Palestinian witnesses said ended several hours after it began under cover of darkness. Troops also operated in Jenin city, where 40 people were arrested, including Mr Kamal Abu Al-Wafa, believed to be a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, meanwhile, a seven-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli soldiers' gun fire in the Askar refugee camp. Amid Abu Seir was fatally wounded in the hip when soldiers opened fire from their tanks in the direction of his father's shop, sources said.

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In the Gaza Strip Israeli soldiers shot dead an armed Palestinian who approached the perimeter fence of the Jewish settlement of Dugit and threw hand grenades at the troops, the Israeli army said in a statement.

Responding to international and internal pressure, a committee of Palestinian Legislative Council members urged Mr Arafat yesterday to authorise local, general and presidential elections by early 2003 and form a slimmer government soon to rule until then.

Mr Arafat has given no precise date for a ballot, last held in 1996.

Israel has said peace negotiations with the Palestinians could not begin until Palestinian violence ceased and Mr Arafat's administration was overhauled.

AFP &