Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has vowed a crackdown on armed groups operating in Palestinian areas to smooth the way to a presidential election for a successor to Yasser Arafat in January.
Mr Abbas also urged Israel to halt "aggressive" military action in the West Bank and Gaza to help him restore order before the vote in his first media interview since taking over as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation after the death of Mr Arafat.
"Steps will be taken to end the public display or show of arms," he said, saying action would be taken before the election. "We have to move on to a new era.
"We will act firmly against anyone who violates the law so that we can make the citizens feel secure," he said.
But Mr Abbas left it unclear as to whether security forces would curb militants preparing attacks on Israelis — a key demand of a US-backed peace plan envisaging a Palestinian state.
US diplomats set to meet Mr Abbas next week hope the election will install a moderate president mandated to talk peace with Israel. But without a crackdown on militants, Israel will be loath to ease army blockades or halt raids disruptive to a vote.
Mr Abbas said Palestinians faced a crucial test in preventing an internal slide into chaos after Arafat, as rival factions jockey for power.
"This period is a test for the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people to show they are capable of establishing the independent Palestinian state," he said.
Talks between Mr Abbas and militant factions have so far produced no agreement for suspending suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis in a four-year-old Palestinian uprising.
But Mr Abbas, who narrowly escaped injury in a gunfight on Sunday between his bodyguards and militants, won a verbal pledge at talks with leaders of Fatah armed groups as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad earlier yesterday to work to restore internal order, political sources said.