Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the security forces to prevent militants from carrying out attacks on Israeli targets, Palestinian official sources said Monday.

Abbas gave the order after a weekly PNA cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the sources said

Palestinian State Minister Qadoora Faris told reporters that Abbas, Qurei and the cabinet members agreed on giving clear instructions to the security chiefs in the Palestinian territories to prevent all kinds of violence, including attacks against Israel.

Palestinian Communication Minister Azzam Al-Ahmed said "there are firm instructions to the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to assume their responsibilities."

Al-Ahmed said the Palestinian leadership, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee and the PNA cabinet, "have a clear decision to break the cycle of violence and prevent all kinds of attacks."

He said the attacks carried out by the Palestinian side must come to an end, but "the Israeli army operations in the Palestinian territories must also end."

Despite a call by Abbas to abandon armed resistance, Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks on Israeli targets, which drew retaliation operations from the army.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2005)