ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct. 14 - Sharon Calls On Palestinians To Change 'Murderous Regime'.

During a speech opening the winter session of the Knesset, PM Sharon calls on Palestinians to change their "murderous regime", saying the coming year could be "a year of change". Referring to Palestinians, he says: "Your terrible pain is unnecessary. The blood you have spilled has been spilled in vain". He says the Palestinians' "murderous regime must be removed and replaced with one of peace". But the opposition leader Yossi Sarid laid some of the blame on Sharon, saying: "You are leaving behind you a scorched land, a scorched country, and you are mainly leaving behind you scorched people. And this will be beyond repair". Meanwhile in Bethlehem, Palestinians buried a militant who died on Oct. 13 when the receiver of the public telephone he was using exploded. Palestinians called the death an Israeli assassination and accused Israel of seeking to provoke Palestinian violence in Bethlehem, which has been relatively quiet for weeks. Israeli officials declined to comment on the matter. The dead man, Mohammed Shtawi Abayat, 25, was identified by Palestinians as a relatively low-ranking member of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the militia connected to Arafat's Fatah movement. Two of his relatives, more senior members, had already been killed by Israel. (Israeli forces pulled out of Bethlehem two months ago, in exchange for assurances from local security officials that they would maintain quiet).