MIDDLE EAST: Thousands of Palestinians, some wearing mock suicide-bomber belts, lined Gaza roads yesterday to welcome home the remains of 15 gunmen handed over by Israel in a gesture to help President Mahmoud Abbas shore up a ceasefire.
The move gave a modest boost to Mr Abbas as he tries to nudge militants, now observing an informal pause in fighting Israel, into a formal ceasefire in keeping with a declaration he made at a February 8th summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Militant chiefs hailed the gesture as a "step in the right direction" but demanded Israel do much more - above all, free thousands of prisoners and pull forces from occupied land.
But officials warned a withdrawal from the West Bank town of Jericho might be delayed by several days after a disagreement over security arrangements.
Israeli troops shot dead a knife-wielding Palestinian in the West Bank and militants fired a mortar round into an army post in southern Gaza.
But the shooting did not disrupt a process of post-summit goodwill gestures typified by the return of bodies to popular acclaim in Gaza which is to be followed by prisoner releases and Israeli army withdrawls expected to start later this week.
Palestinians thronged roadsides and stood on roof to cheer a convoy of 15 ambulances garlanded with flowers transporting the remains from Gaza's Erez border crossing to the militants' home towns for public funerals.
The 15 were suicide bombers or gunmen shot dead in attacks on settlements or on Gaza's border with Israel. - (Reuters)