The Palestinian prime minister, who is making efforts to reach an agreement to halt attacks on Israelis, met Tuesday with a U.S. envoy dispatched to the region to supervise implementation of a troubled Mideast peace plan.
The head of the U.S. monitoring team, John Wolf, held talks with Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the prime minister's meeting with Palestinian factions later in the day. Also attending the meeting were Mohammed Dahlan, the senior Palestinian security chief, and Amin al-Hindi, head of military intelligence.
Israel’s Army Radio reported that Wolf met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday night.
Also in Israel, a senior military official was quoted as saying Tuesday that Israel will not hand over security responsibilities to the Palestinians until Hamas announces that it will cease all attacks on Israelis. But Israeli officials were "guardedly optimistic" that Hamas would eventually agree to a cease-fire.
In a meeting Monday in Gaza with leaders of Fatah movement, Abbas stressed his adherence to national dialogue as the basis for achieving Palestinian national unity. He was reported to confirm his adherence to demands presented to him by Fatah leaders.
Ending the siege imposed by Israeli forces on President Yasser Arafat, stopping the Israeli assassinations and military incursions, Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories reoccupied since September 2000, and securing the release of all Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons should top Abu Mazen’s priorities, Fatah’s Higher Committee member Samir Al-Mashharawi said.
Securing these demands are the guarantees for an “honorable” truce, Al-Mashharawi added.
Egypt has also been mediating, but its envoys failed on Monday to achieve a substantial breakthrough in talks with Palestinian factions. Egyptian officials Tuesday went to Beirut and Damascus for talks with leaders of Palestinian factions.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
