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Negotiations resume on details of Israeli pullout

Negotiations over the Israeli turnover of West Bank towns to Palestinian control were set to resume yesterday with the two sides trying to agree on the details of removing Israeli army roadblocks and preventing more violence by Palestinian militants.

In an effort to support a delicate ceasefire declared by militants seven weeks ago, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was scheduled to meet with leaders of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli and Palestinian security officials, meanwhile, were set to resume talks two days after negotiations stalled on the issues of roadblocks and efforts to rein in Islamic militants. Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan said he had expected the talks to conclude yesterday.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met early yesterday with his defense minister and chief of staff to prepare a list of demands Israel plans to present to the Palestinians as conditions for a withdrawal from Qalqiliya and Jericho, Israeli radio reported.

The withdrawal from the two towns -- which was originally planned to take place yesterday but was delayed when the sides failed to agree on the details -- is expected in the next few days, an army spokesman said. Israeli newspapers reported the pullout could take place today or tomorrow.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel needs a guarantee that the planned troop pullback from four West Bank towns won't free Palestinians to resume attacks.

"If there isn't full assurance that terror won't originate from those cities, the plan won't move forward," Shalom said. "The Palestinians have to assert their authority."

Dahlan and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz have agreed in principle on an Israeli handover of the towns of Jericho, Qalqiliya, Tulkarem and Ramallah, within two weeks,

Ramallah holds particular importance for the Palestinians

because President Yasser Arafat has been holed up in his headquarters there for nearly two years, besieged in a compound that has been mostly destroyed by the Israel army in an attempt to isolate the Palestinian leader.

On Sunday, security officials from both sides met to work out the details of the handover of Jericho and Qalqiliya but disagreed on several points.

The Palestinians insist that Israel remove all roadblocks ringing the two towns to help ease the lives of the residents. At present, there are no soldiers in Jericho and Qalqiliya, and the checkpoints are the only sign of an Israeli presence.

"What we need now is a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal without checkpoints," Dahlan told the Palestinian parliament Monday.

Israel refuses to remove all checkpoints, citing security reasons. The roadblocks were erected across the West Bank in response to an upsurge of fighting in the past three years, and have become a major irritation to Palestinians because they can turn a trip that previously took a matter of minutes into an hours-long ordeal.

Israeli negotiators have been dissatisfied so far with Palestinian proposals for keeping wanted Palestinians in check, an Israeli security source said on condition of anonymity Monday.

In weekend meetings with Dahlan, Mofaz dropped a demand that the Palestinians round up all wanted militants and confine them to the generally quiet West Bank town of Jericho. Instead, they will be able to remain in their towns, Palestinian officials said. Dahlan pledged to keep the militants in line.

The agreement was reached just as an internationally sponsored "road map" plan to peace and Palestinian statehood by 2005 was in jeopardy due to growing violence.

Palestinian militants carried out two suicide bombings last week, killing two Israelis, in revenge for deadly Israeli arrest raids. Islamic Jihad threatened more attacks to avenge the killing of a senior operative -- Israel says he was planning a bombing -- in a shootout with troops.

Yet the militants have also said they will return to observing a three-month truce they declared June 29 once they feel a score has been settled. The truce was declared by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Arafat's Fatah movement, though Fatah renegades have not observed it.
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