Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday is he is waiting for an Israeli response to his offer to declare a mutual cease-fire "as soon as possible."
"We are willing to have a cease-fire, and we have informed the Israelis of this and we are waiting for an answer from them as soon as possible," Abbas told reporters Thursday, before leaving the West Bank for visits to Jordan, Egypt, Switzerland, Russia and Turkey.
On his part, Israeli Prime Sharon's spokesman Asaf Shariv said Israel is examining the Palestinian proposals. "I don't know if a cease-fire is the right wording," he said. "If there is quiet on the Palestinian side, Israel will respond with quiet."
