But Mr. Sharon did not accept Mr. Arafat's cease-fire declaration of Dec. 16, 2001, which was largely implemented.
In that respect, a cease-fire declaration would be nearly worthless in defusing the current crisis, because the Turkish public views such announcements with equal skepticism.
Finally, the parties should move directly from the cease-fire declaration into the "cooling-off" period recommended by the Mitchell Commission.
After his own cease-fire declaration, he tolerated a degree of violent activity while Mr. Arafat made an effort to bring it under control.
Nigerian authorities on Tuesday welcomed a cease-fire declaration by a commander of the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram, but security forces said they would not lower their guard.
The cleric on Friday extended a cease-fire declaration he had imposed on his militiamen in August, but Mr. Ratel said the militia's domination of the Basra police is a kind of loophole.
Mr. Arafat's cease-fire declaration was virtually dictated to him after the Tel Aviv bombing by Terje Rod-Larsen, the United Nations envoy, and the German foreign minister, Joschka Fisher.
(AP) PAKISTAN, INDIA: KASHMIR CEASE-FIRE CONFIRMED The leader of one of the most powerful groups fighting Indian rule in the disputed territory of Kashmir, Sayed Salahuddin of the Hizbul Mujahideen, confirmed a cease-fire declaration.
Although the Palestinians spurned Israeli demands for a reciprocal cease-fire declaration, Israel's initiative, announced late on Tuesday, appeared to have at least briefly improved the situation on the ground.
"Militants have ratcheted up their activities over the past 24 hours, breaking the cease-fire 95 times, back to levels seen before the Feb. 12 cease-fire declaration," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Andryushin told reporters in Kiev.
We find this [cease-fire declaration] an important and welcome step towards a peaceful resolution to conflict in those states, which we would like to see extended to the Darfur region.
