The Al-Aqsa Martyrs´ Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat´s Fatah faction, announced Saturday that it has rejected the three-month cease-fire agreement on attacks against Israelis that it was expected to be a partner to, along with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine also renounced the truce, or hudna, despite attempts by PA officials to negotiate their participation.

"We do not agree to stop the resistance against the Israeli occupation," said senior PFLP member Jamil al-Madalawi.

The Brigades was claiming that it did not participate in earlier discussions held in Cairo and Damascus which led to the agreement.

"No one consulted" the group´s leaders, a pamphlet read, "and the key to a cease-fire lies with the fighters in the field." The announcement called on Israel to "lift the siege" on Yasser Arafat.

But earlier Saturday, a top Islamic Jihad official said that the three largest Palestinian militant groups - Al-Aqsa, Jihad and Hamas - would likely announce the cease-fire within 24 hours.

"We expect to declare the final agreement in the coming 24 hours," said senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammed al-Hindi.

The truce by militants would boost a U.S.-backed peace plan and comes as U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was due to hold talks at the weekend with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The militant group Hamas said earlier that it had decided to suspend attacks on Israel.

Similarly, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, senior Arafat adviser and a Fatah member, said a truce announcement was imminent.

A Palestinian source said that key to the truce agreement was a U.S. promise to pressure Israel to stop track-and-kill operations against militants.

Al-Ayyam: Truce to be announced Sunday

The Al- Ayyam daily, a mouthpiece of the PA, reported Saturday that the cease-fire agreement would be announced Sunday at 11 A.M. in Gaza, Ramallah and Cairo.

According to the paper, the agreement includes conditions presented by the Palestinians to Israel, among them an end to assassinations, raids and arrests, the removal of closures in Palestinian cities and the release of all Palestinian prisoners.

Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives gave Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas a draft of the agreement on Friday, Israel Radio reported. Hamas representative in Lebanon Ossama Hamdan passed on the agreement draft on Friday to Egyptian government officials in Cairo, the radio said.

Hamas decides to suspend attacks on Israel

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Friday that after studying "all the developments," it had reached a decision to suspend attacks on Israel.

"Hamas has studied all the developments and has reached a decision to call a truce, or a suspension of fighting activities," Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told Reuters.

But a senior Israeli government source responded coolly to the announcement, saying any truce signed by the militant group "is not worth the paper it´s written on."

Yassin said the cease-fire carried conditions and a timeframe, but declined to give details or indicate when a truce would be announced.

"We are still in contact with the rest of the factions in order to reach a joint formula to be signed by everybody," Yassin said, referring to groups such as Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, linked to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat´s Fatah movement.

Mohammed al-Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad leader, said his group had also finalized its decision regarding a truce and it was "inclined towards calm."

"We are in a dialogue with other Palestinian factions and preparing a joint paper," he said. "In a few days, this joint paper will be finalized and also reflect our position."

In response to Yassin´s announcement, the United States said any Hamas truce would be a useful first step toward peace, but it must be followed by the dismantling of militant organizations.

"We certainly would welcome that first step towards the end to violence and terror," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "It would need to be followed by other steps to dismantle the capabilities but we certainly believe that that could be a useful step to see in the coming days."

"We see a comprehensive cessation of violence and terror as a welcome development but it´s not an end in itself, it needs to be the first step," he told a daily briefing.

Boucher gave no indication of the timeframe Washington expects for the dismantlement but he linked it with the Palestinian Authority´s efforts to establish itself as the sole armed authority in the Palestinian territories.

"The leadership of the Palestinian Authority... have made clear that their goal is to establish a Palestinian state. A state can have only a single armed authority and cannot have to compete with armed authority from other groups," he said.

"The point of the road map is that the Palestinian Authority exercises more and more responsibility for security as time goes on. We and others will help," he added.

The Israeli source also repeated Jerusalem´s bedrock demand that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas dismantle Hamas and other militant factions under the terms of the U.S.-backed road map.

But the source indicated that Israel, which is negotiating a Gaza disengagement deal with the Palestinian Authority, could adopt a wait-and-see strategy in targeting Palestinian militants if a truce is declared.

"If we provide them [the Palestinian Authority] with information [about militants planning attacks] and they act on that information and take measures, fine," the source said. "But we will not tolerate bombs blowing up in our face."

"It is not worth the paper it´s written on," the Israeli source said about the truce, and called on the PA "to take the necessary steps to eradicate terrorism, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, collect illegal arms and end anti-Israeli incitement."

For its part, he said, Israel "will take whatever measures are necessary to defend our citizens when they are attacked."

Israel had already said that it would continue to act against Palestinian "ticking bombs," despite any cease-fire agreement reached between the PA and militant groups. (© Copyright 2003 Haaretz. 06/29/03)