Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Wednesday went into talks with two senior US peace envoys in the West Bank town of Ramallah, a day after Palestinian resistance groups killed three Israelis and injured more than 50, before some of their members were rounded up by the PA, said reports.
Retired US general Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns met Arafat and other Palestinian officials for iftar, the meal which Muslims take to break the dawn-to-dusk fast during the holy month of Ramadan, according to AFP.
The two US envoys arrived in the region on Monday and spent Tuesday with Israeli leaders, including taking an extensive helicopter tour with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel's borders.
Their mission is to seek ways to cement a ceasefire that will not break down like a string of truces already agreed upon in the 14-month-old Palestinian uprising, which has cost the lives of almost 1,000 people, mostly Palestinians.
According to the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper, the Palestinians are expected to mount a diplomatic counter-offensive, underscoring their demands that international observers be sent to the territories, and reiterating their opposition to Sharon's demand for seven days of absolute calm before instituting the recommendations of the Mitchell Commission on bringing an end to the clashes and returning to peace talks.
Israel’s Army Radio on Wednesday quoted Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer as indicating that Israel might agree to lifting its seven-day pre-condition, but, he was quoted as adding, "only if Arafat changes his attitude," said the paper.
The Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which are linked to Arafat's Fatah group, claimed responsibility for the attack in Afula.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack and said it was committed to the success of the new US mediation mission. The PA tok practical steps to prove its seriousness.
Palestinian police detained four members of the Islamic Jihad in an overnight swoop in the West Bank, a Jihad spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.
At the same time, the Israeli army said it had also arrested nine people in and around Hebron, the main town in the southern West Bank. Israeli public radio said four of the detainees were Islamic Jihad members, but the army refused to give details, said the agency.
Zinni and Burns told Sharon on Tuesday that Israel must end the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and asked how Israel intended to deal with the issue. The two also asked what steps Israel was prepared to take should the Palestinian Authority agree to a cease-fire.
Like Sharon's helicopter trip Tuesday, PA officials took Zinni and Burns on a tour by car of PA-controlled areas of the West Bank, in order to illustrate the impact of Israeli raids, blockades, settlements and other measures on the Palestinian population, said Haaretz.
US officials declined to give details of Zinni's tour, but said he was trying to familiarize himself with the situation on the ground.
Early Wednesday, Arafat called Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar, who was in Washington, and briefed hom on the situation in the Palestinian lands, according to the Palestinian official news agency (WAFA).
Russia, a supposed sponsor of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, took the US and Israeli side in calling on the PA to crack down on Palestinian “extremists” groups.
Palestinian leaders should "do all they can to stop extremists from committing such crimes in the future," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement late Tuesday, referring to the Afula attack.
The statement also called on Israel to "refrain from responding to the provocation" of the attacks, said AFP.
Russia expressed "particular concern that this bloody act was staged when possibilities had emerged to improve contacts aimed at overcoming the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation."
PERES, SHARON AT ODDS OVER RELATION WITH PALESTINIANS
Sharon and his Foreign Minister Shimon Peres exchanged verbal blows during Wednesday's cabinet meeting, as Peres attacked the make-up of the negotiating team appointed by Sharon to carry out cease-fire talks, said Haaretz.
Peres also accused the prime minister of establishing an independent foreign ministry, to which Sharon replied that previous governments had managed diplomatic talks under the direction of the prime minister.
According to Sharon, the Palestinian Authority's decision to have senior political officials manage negotiations was designed to force Israel into doing the same, but Israel "would not carry out diplomatic negotiations under fire."
Peres also criticized Sharon's demand for "seven days of quiet" before any implementation of the Mitchell Report's recommendations. The foreign minister said that such a demand "delivered veto power into the hands of the extremists," who could bring an end to the process at any moment. Sharon, however, insisted that he would not give up on "even one second of the seven days."
Sharon reassured chief of staff Shaul Mofaz that "no-one is tying your hands."
ISRAEL WORRIED OVER ARAFAT’S SUCESSION
Arafat still has a firm grip on power, a senior Israeli defense ministry official said Wednesday, but warned that an eventual struggle for succession could lead to armed confrontation.
Brushing aside reports in the Israeli press that Arafat was nearing the end of his leadership, he was quoted by AFP as saying that the 72-year-old veteran was "still stable as head of the Palestinian Authority.
"I must say in the same breath that Arafat enjoys the status of symbolic commander of the Palestinian people, something which has until now not been harmed," said the Israeli official, who asked not to be named – Albawaba.com
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