Palestinian militant groups vowed on Wednesday they would not disarm, defying an appeal by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas issued at a U.S.-led peace summit with Israel. “We will never be ready to lay down arms until the liberation of the last centimeter of the land of Palestine,” Hamas official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi said. Islamic Jihad, another group sworn to Israel’s destruction, followed suit. But neither group ruled out further talks with Abbas, which seeks a halt to Palestinian attacks in a 32-month-old revolt for independence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Abbas met President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the Jordanian resort Aqaba on Wednesday for talks aimed at advancing a U.S.-backed peace “road map” which envisages a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel. Full Story
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