Violence looms

JERUSALEM (AP):

New Palestinian violence could erupt if peace talks collapse after this weekend's expiration of an Israeli settlement slowdown, the Israeli military chief warned yesterday.

With the Palestinians threatening to walk out on the talks if the slowdown is not extended, Lt General Gabi Ashkenazi told lawmakers that the military was bracing for possible mass protests and clashes.

He said low expectations for a breakthrough in the talks, however, were likely to keep the level of violence from reaching that of the Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000. Then, years of Israeli-Palestinian violence characterised by suicide bombings and Israeli army incursions into Palestinian towns followed the collapse of a previous round of negotiations.

Palestinian spokesman Ghassan Khatib agreed with Ashkenazi's assessment, saying Israel's occupation of the West Bank has generally been marked by either peace efforts or violence, with one often leading to the other.