Sharon, Abbas to discuss next Mideast peace moves ( 2003-07-01 10:53) (Agencies)
Israel's prime minister and his Palestinian counterpart meet Tuesday to
discuss the way ahead for a US-led peace plan after a partial Israeli pull-out
from the Gaza strip and a truce by Palestinian guerrillas.
Palestinians wave and flash a victory sign from a truck as
they pass an Israeli checkpoint after Israeli soldiers removed the cement
barricades from the main road of Deir El-Balah near the Jewish settlement
of Kfar Darom in the southern Gaza Strip June 30,
2003.[Reuters]
The announcement of the talks
between Israel's Ariel Sharon and reformist Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas came after the truce faltered on its first day Monday when Palestinian
militants shot dead a foreign worker.
The attack, killing a Bulgarian in the West Bank, underlined the fragility of
peace moves after 33 months of violence. The latest truce was declared by
leading militant factions and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah
movement.
Sharon told a meeting of his parliamentary Likud faction on Monday that
progress in peace talks depended on Palestinians "absolutely" suppressing
violence. But he also said "a certain number" of Palestinian prisoners in Israel
would be freed.
"Our readiness and ability to take risks to give the process a chance will
grow if there will be quiet," Sharon said.
At the meeting expected to be held in Sharon's office in Jerusalem, Abbas is
likely to present the militants' agreement to a truce as evidence of his
reformist government's effectiveness in securing quiet.
But Sharon has demanded the dismantling of militant groups such as Hamas,
which Israel fears will regroup during the cease-fire. He told the Likud there
must be "a real war of the Palestinians against terror. Dismantling terror
organizations will bring progress."
Palestinian spokesmen have said that Israel could help reduce support for
militants by easing Palestinian daily life and withdrawing from Palestinian
towns reoccupied at the peak of a Palestinian uprising for statehood last year.
AGREEMENT TO LEAVE BETHLEHEM
Palestinian Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan told Reuters that Israel had
agreed to leave the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of
Jesus, Wednesday as its next confidence-building measure.
But a senior Israeli security source told Reuters the
deal on Bethlehem was "not final." The security officials will hold their own
separate meeting Tuesday to discuss it.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon attends a Likud party
meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 30, 2003. Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas will meet Sharon on Tuesday to discuss a US-backed
peace plan despite new violence, Abbas' office said on
Monday.[Reuters]
The talks between Sharon and Abbas will be the third since Abbas took office
in April in a move, orchestrated by the United States and Israel, to reform the
Palestinian Authority.
Issues include a Bethlehem pullout, completion of Israel's withdrawal from
the Gaza strip and Palestinian prisoners.
Sharon recently described Abbas as a "chicken without wings" for failing to
take action against militants, but in an apparent indication of goodwill,
several leading Israeli and Palestinian ministers will participate in the
meeting, army radio reported.
The United States, the main sponsor of the "road map" designed to lead in
steps by both sides to a Palestinian state and peace agreement by 2005, said the
peace process may be "entering a new era."
"The President (George W. Bush) is encouraged by the work that the Israelis
are doing together with the Palestinian Authority leaders," White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Since Sunday, Palestinians and Israelis have taken the first tentative steps
to implement the road map, drawn up by the United States, Russia, the European
Union and United Nations. Many ordinary Israelis and Palestinians remain
skeptical.
The plan charts steps leading to a Palestinian state on Gaza and West Bank
territory by 2005, and requires Palestinian police to fill security gaps
wherever Israel has withdrawn.
Israeli forces left the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun at the weekend. Monday,
troops withdrew from the territory's main highway, ending a blockade dating from
the outbreak of the uprising and reuniting north with south Gaza.
The army Tuesday reported five more shooting incidents since the Palestinian
militants' cease-fire was announced. But it reported no further casualties.
