MIDDLE EAST: Abbas-Sharon meeting useful and frank

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Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

RAMALLAH, May 30 2003 (IPS) - A Palestinian official source has described as useful and frank the meeting held in Al Quds last night between Palestinian Premier Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli peer Ariel Sharon.

Under pressure to make peace progress before next week’s historic summit with the US president in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh , Israeli Premier Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas agreed Thursday on measures aimed at improving the quality of life of Palestinians and security for Israelis.

The measures include the release of several high profile Palestinian prisoners, the opening of the Israeli border for 25,000 Palestinian workers, the payment of more taxes due to the Palestinian Authority, the freezing of settlements’ building activities and halting military actions and assassinations against the Palestinian activists.

The Palestinian side stressed the importance of lifting the unjustifiable siege imposed on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and called for enabling Arafat to move and act more freely.

Arafat has been pinned down in Ramallah for more than a year.

More importantly, the two leaders agreed that Israel should withdraw from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and that Palestinian police should take responsibility for security there.

But Sharon made clear that Israel would not hesitate to intervene again in the face of renewed threats to Israel’s security. There was no joint declaration after the three-hour meeting.

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr described in a separate statement that the meeting was – positive".

Nabil Amr further said that the meeting also focused on the immediate, accurate and full implementation of the roadmap plan which calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in 2005.

The said plan was proposed by the quartet, namely United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia.

The talks – the second meeting in two weeks – took place against a backdrop of continuing violence as Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in an Israeli army incursion into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Abbas was accompanied by Palestinian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nabil Shaath and security chief Mouhamed Dahlan.

A key element in Thursday’s talks was the strides Palestinians will take to squelch ongoing suicidal actions against Israeli civilians by groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Earlier, Abbas indicated he expected ceasefire agreements with the Islamic militant Hamas organization and Islamic Jihad by next week. But he said he would not wage ôcivil war" against the groups.

In a statement after the talks, Sharon said that any progress still depends on practical steps by the Palestinian Authority to destroy the terrorist infrastructure, imprison terrorists and confiscate their illegal weapons.

In Washington, the White House made clear the importance of the issue. ôShould the Palestinians declare a cease-fire, it must be accompanied by parallel steps to disarm and dismantle terrorists and terrorist infrastructure," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Fleischer indicated that the June 5 talks will go on as slated û ôconditions permitting". Washington officials have repeated that both parties are responsible to ôwork toward peace" in order for the summit to take place.

Fleischer said that at present, ôall systems are go" for the meeting.

For his part, Palestinian Foreign Minister Shaath told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) that the atmosphere of the meeting was ôpositive" but downplayed any concrete results.

Both parties came to the meeting with a willingness to show good will and present some actual tension-easing agreements as a prologue to the main issue – the implementation of the roadmap.

The Palestinians were seeking an overall reduction of military and economic pressure, while the Israelis insisted on guarantees of a stop to terrorist activity, Shaath said.

In an official statement released in Jerusalem after midnight, the Israeli prime minister’s office said Israeli forces would withdraw from Palestinian city-centers and from the northern region of the Gaza Strip, provided that the Palestinians take responsibility for the general security in those areas.

While the Israeli statement said the withdrawal would be ôimmediate", Palestinian Foreign Minister Shaath said the Israeli army pullout would not happen until after the trilateral summit.

The agreement would pave the way for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from reoccupied autonomous areas, as demanded by the roadmap’s first phase. The Palestinians have indicated they would prefer a security takeover in Gaza as the first step.

On the issue of prisoners, Israel has agreed to the Palestinian request to release Tayseer Khaled, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization ‘s executive committee, and Abu al-Sukkar, the longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israel.

The Israelis also promised to investigate how many more of the 4,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails could be let go.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Shaath told DPA that Israel had agreed to release another 100 Palestinian prisoners.

Sharon insisted that any released prisoner would have to sign a written commitment not to undertake terrorist acts. The prisoner issue took up a large part of the meeting, a Palestinian official said.

On Thursday, Israel agreed to lift the general closure imposed on the West Bank ôaccording to the improvement in the situation".

Meanwhile, it will issue 25,000 work permits for Palestinians, including 8,000 for overnight stays, and will allow the rebuilding of the Gaza airport, Palestinian officials said.

In his statement, Sharon said that Israel would agree to enlarge the monthly transfer of Palestinian funds collected by Israel as taxes and fees by 50 percent, to 150 million dollars, and would enlarge the joint industry-districts to boost economic development in the Palestinian territories.