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Sharon, Abbas End “Positive” Meeting, To Continue Talks
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Sharon declared measures to ease Palestinian suffering
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, May 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Following talks
between Israeli and Palestinian Premiers late Thursday, Israel has
agreed to hand over security control in Gaza and in West Bank towns to
the Palestinians in a phased withdrawal of its troops, Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's office announced early Friday, May 30.
The
two-and-a-half-hour meeting was "very positive and the Israeli
side promised to take some good steps to reduce the suffering of the
Palestinian people", Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr
told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A
statement issued by Sharon's office echoed that the meeting was held
in "a very good and positive atmosphere".
The
Premiers Met at Sharon's West Jerusalem office to discuss steps to
launch the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan ahead of their
three-way summit next Wednesday in Aqaba, Jordan with U.S. President
George W. Bush.
Abbas
and Sharon also agreed to issue a joint statement on the roadmap at
the Aqaba summit, said Nabil Abu Rudeina, a senior aide to Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat.
Security
& Pullbacks
A
large part of the talks was given over to discussions on the state of
the Palestinian
security forces, which have been adversely affected
by the Israeli troops operations to suppress the Intifada. The
Palestinians asked for Israeli help to rebuild these forces, in
particular in the West Bank, according to Israeli daily Ha’aretz.
Sharon
called on the Palestinian Prime Minister to take action against
resistance operating from the Palestinian Authority-ruled areas.
"The
Prime Minister demanded that his Palestinian colleague take vigorous
action to halt terrorism and practical steps on the ground," said
a statement from Sharon's office.
Those
steps included, the statement said, "dismantling terrorist
organizations, arresting terrorists and confiscating illegal
weapons."
Sharon
clarified that the Israeli troops would not hesitate to return to
carry out operations in those areas handed over to the PA if there
proved to be a clear threat to the lives of Israelis, which the PA had
not worked to prevent.
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Abbas said he’d crack down on “militant Palesinian groups”
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Abbas,
for his part, described the talks as "serious, candid and
beneficial" and called on Sharon "to take the opportunity of
peacemaking" now that both sides have accepted the road map, his
press secretary said in a statement.
"Both
sides agreed to continue with their meetings and work on making the
efforts of President Bush, and the other members of the Quartet, a
success," the Palestinian statement said.
After
the meeting, the Palestinian participants returned to the West Bank
town of Ramallah to brief Arafat. Abbas said he would convene a
meeting of the PLO executive to review the results of the talks.
Sharon
said that if the Palestinians put a halt to anti-Israeli attacks by
what he termed “radicals” in their camp, Israel would begin
political negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He
also outlined a list of measures to ease the daily lives of
Palestinians and revive their economy. Among the steps were the
lifting of Israel's blockade of Gaza and the West Bank, free movement
permits to senior Palestinian officials, and an increase in the amount
of frozen tax duties transferred to the Palestinian Authority. The
number of Palestinian workers allowed into Israel would also be
raised.
According
to an official Palestinian source, who asked not to be named, Israel
said it would release around 100 Palestinian prisoners, although there
was no immediate confirmation of the report, AFP said.
Amr
said only that a senior PLO member and a long-term Palestinian
prisoner were to go free. Israel is to release Taysir Khaled, a member
of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee and
politburo of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, he
said.
Ahmed
Jbarra Abu Sukkar, the longest serving Palestinian prisoner held by
Israel, will also be freed, said Amr. Palestinian security sources
said he was arrested by Israel 27 years ago for carrying out a
bombing.
A
Palestinian Killed By A Tank Shell
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Israel tanks killed a Palestinian even as the meeting was held
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As
the talks went ahead, however, Israeli occupation forces stepped up
their attacks and operations against the Palestinians all through the
occupied territories.
A
Palestinian was killed and at least one other wounded when an Israeli
tank fired a flechette round at a town in central Gaza Thursday,
Palestinian medical and security sources said.
Mohammed
Abu Sbeitan, 21, was killed in Deir al-Balah by the lethal shell which
sprays thousands of darts over hundreds of meters (yards), the sources
said.
But
Israeli military sources denied the report, saying no firing had taken
place in the area.
Elsewhere,
Israeli troops shot dead an activist from the Islamic resistance group
Hamas during a raid into the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis,
Palestinian security sources said.
Relatives
said the 24-year-old had been wounded and was being carried to his
house when soldiers shot him dead in a nearby street.
Earlier,
in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, a gunman belonging to Islamic
Jihad was gunned down by Israeli troops, the group's local leader and
Palestinian medical sources told AFP.
Only
hours before the Sharon-Abbas meeting went ahead, Sharon declared that
“Israel will never let go of Jerusalem! Never!”
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