Palestinian hardliners on Sunday rebuffed a ceasefire with Israel, defying Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's threat to take "unilateral measures" in case of failure of the US-backed roadmap peace plan. 

Radical groups, including the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad (Holy War), gave a cold shoulder to a demand put forth by the mainstream Fatah movement on a conditional truce on the last day of a four-day dialogue, insiders said.

On Sunday evening, efforts to press for the ceasefire stirred an uproar among representatives of radical factions, which claimed there will be no final statement on anything, even a previously reached eight-point document on sparing civilians from attacks.

"This was a strong message sent to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that nothing would be done without Sharon's steps," said Taha Khalil, a researcher with the Egyptian National Centre for Middle East Studies.

"Hamas and Jihad are afraid of a similar failure of truce, because Israel breaks any ceasefire at any time," he said, referring to the collapse of a unilateral ceasefire by Palestinian groups in late August.

Earlier in the day, the factions agreed on an eight-point draft declaration, which includes non-attacks on civilians.

The document could be seen as a compromise deal among the factions, which have been bickering over whether to offer Israel a ceasefire.

The main 12 Palestinian groups had gathered in the Egyptian capital since last Thursday to discuss the possibility of reaching a new truce with Israel to pave the way for reactivating the derailed roadmap aimed at ending the protracted violence between the two sides.

The internationally-drafted blueprint proposes reciprocal steps to be taken by Israel and the Palestinians and envisions a full Palestinian state by 2005.

During the dialogue, representatives from Islamic Jihad and Hamas had only agreed on stopping attacks on both Palestinian and Israeli civilians, while delegates from the mainstream Fatah movement tried hard to persuade the hardliners to accept a conditional ceasefire.

Radical groups had conditioned any ceasefire on an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, a stop to its targeted killings and release of Palestinian detainees.

"There will be no free ceasefire," Zayad Alnakhala, leader of the Jihad delegation, said on Saturday.

The Cairo dialogue was convened amid hopes for progress following the formation of a new Palestinian cabinet in November and a lull in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

But radical Palestinian groups have been suspicious of Israel's sincerity for peace, given the fact that the previous truce deal easily collapsed in the wake of a series of Israeli targeted killings.

Sharon has claimed Israel would halt military offensives against the Palestinians, if the groups agree to a complete cessation of violence.

"Israel desires a ceasefire, but we are not a part of these discussions," Sharon said.

According to the Fatah delegation, all the factions will go back for further discussions in a bid to reach a ceasefire.

The Palestinian and Israeli sides are preparing for the first meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Sharon to restart the stalled peace process.

"I do not think that the Cairo dialogue will badly affect the expected meeting between Qurei and Sharon, because Qurei would tell Sharon that there will be no free concessions from the Palestinian side," Khalil said.

(China Daily December 10, 2003)