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The United States on Friday welcomed a truce by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a first "useful step" towards peace in the Middle East.
"We certainly would welcome that first step towards the end to violence and terror," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters at a regular press briefing.
"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," Boucher said.
"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 said.
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said Friday that the movement will halt attacks against Israelis for three months, al-Jazeera TV reported.
"Hamas has reached an internal decision to give truce deal a chance, based on studies of the latest developments on international and Palestinian arena," Yassin told reporters in Gaza.
Though the biggest Palestinian militant group accepted cease-fire, it was still making consultations with other factions, according to Yassin. And Palestinian officials said an official announcement of a cease-fire is not expected before Sunday.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2003)
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