ARAFAT GROUP VOWS TO CURB ATTACKS.(MAIN)

Byline: MARK LAVIE Associated Press

JERUSALEM -- Yasir Arafat's Fatah movement pledged for the first time Tuesday to try to stop attacks on Israeli civilians by its militiamen, creating a small opening for a truce. Other militant groups said attacks would continue.

A Fatah leader, however, cast doubt on the statement, and Israeli officials dismissed it as giving tacit approval for attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The statement came a day after Arafat spoke to the Palestinian Legislative Council, meeting at his headquarters in Ramallah, and repeated his call for an end to attacks on Israeli civilians. In the …