Last update - 15:07 10/10/2005

PA: Abbas-Sharon talks delayed, likely to take place by November
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/633267.html
By Aluf Benn, Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents


A planned Tuesday summit between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian
leader Mahmoud Abbas has been postponed for several weeks, and will likely
take place in late October or early November Palestinian official Nabil Abu
Rdeneh said Monday.

The meeting - the first between the two since Israel's Gaza Strip pullout last
month - had already been postponed once and was tentatively rescheduled for
Tuesday. But Abu Rdeneh said more time was needed.

"There was not enough preparation for this summit," he said. "The meetings
between Palestinian officials and Israelis will continue in the coming weeks
to prepare for this summit."


He said the meeting would take place in late October or early November.

Differences between the two sides on Israel's handover of additional West Bank
towns to Palestinian control and further Palestinian prisoner releases have
been the most recent sticking points.

Both sides have said they were interested in having a meeting that would
produce concrete results

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that the content of the
meeting, not the timing, was the key issue.

According to Palestinian sources, it is important for them to come out of the
meeting with concrete achievements that they will be able to show their
public, but the Israeli proposal leaves them empty-handed.

"The most important thing is to focus on the substance of the meeting and not
the timing," Erekat told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah after
talks with David Welch, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern
affairs.

Commenting on the Palestinians' hopes for the summit, Erekat said they were
seeking the release of 20 prisoners who have each spent more than 20 years in
Israeli jails and an Israeli troop pullback from West Bank cities, beginning
in Bethlehem.

In contacts held Monday, the sides discussed the wording of an announcement
that may be released later in the day, according to which joint negotiating
teams would resume discussions, and the summit would be held off until
November.

According to Palestinian Minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh, Abbas' point man on
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Israel is prepared in principle to
free some prisoners, but hasn't presented the Palestinians with any specific
proposals regarding the number of Palestinians it is willing to free, or
whether it would release prisoners involved in attacks on Israelis.

"Israel is talking in general, not talking about numbers and criteria. That's
not enough for the Palestinians," Abu Zaydeh said.

"The issue of the prisoners is one of the most important issues in terms of
Palestinian public opinion," he added. Abbas "would have a lot of difficulty
meeting with Sharon without having convincing answers," he said.

According to an Israel political source, Sharon and Abbas were originally
slated to meet only next month, but the PA chairman was asked by the U.S.
administration to hold the meeting prior to his trip to Washington. "They
asked, and we agreed," the source said. "But there are things that cannot be
concluded from one day to the next and have to be reviewed thoroughly, such as
the release of prisoners and the transfer of cities."

Sharon's adviser, Dov Weissglas, met on Sunday with PA Minister Saeb Erekat
for a preparatory talk that lasted a mere half hour. Weissglas gave Erekat a
written version of Israel's proposals regarding the renewal of the joint
committee work on various issues, including the release of Palestinian
prisoners, the transfer of West Bank cities to the PA and the handling of
wanted men. At the meetings on Sunday, the sides discussed the option of
postponing the summit until November.

According to a source in Jerusalem, "We want to begin the process, and they
want to see something concrete. It is clear to us that we have to give them
things, but it is impossible to do so within a week."

The source said the Palestinians are not keen on the meeting but are unable to
say so after promising both the U.S. administration and Jordanian King
Abdullah that it would take place. "We want it very much, and it is up to
them," the source said.

Weissglas and Erekat agreed on Sunday to speak Monday by phone to make a final
decision on whether Tuesday's meeting would take place, or whether it would be
postponed by agreement.

Meanwhile, U.S. State Department official David Welch arrived on Sunday in the
region, and is scheduled to meet on Monday with senior PA officials and
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Welch is expected to meet with Sharon on
Tuesday. He is trying to act as a mediator and arrange a meeting between
Sharon and Abbas prior to the PA chairman's trip to Washington next week.

According to a PA source, the Palestinian demands focus on four main points:
the release of long-serving prisoners who were incarcerated before the Oslo
Accords; the release of two "special" prisoners - an elderly detainee, and
detainee suffering from a terminal illness; an arrangement that would allow
the Church of the Nativity deportees to return to their homes in the West
Bank; and the transfer of additional territory to the PA, with Ramallah and
Hebron taking top priority.

The source said the PA was not prepared to make do with general promises.
Abbas has said a number of times in the past that there would be no point to
him meeting with Sharon if it were "for the media only." He called on Israel
to fulfill the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings and return to talks on a
final-status agreement.


For his part, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is adamantly against supplying the
Palestinians with arms and handing over security responsibility for additional
West Bank cities in the near future. Mofaz believes the PA has yet to prove
its commitment to combating terror. Without such action, Mofaz believes there
is no justification for taking such risks at present.

During recent defense establishment deliberations, however, the Shin Bet
security service has expressed a different opinion, with Shin Bet chief Yuval
Diskin saying that the service sees no reason not to provide the PA's security
forces with additional arms so that they can put on a show of strength against
Hamas.

Diskin noted three conditions for the supply of arms to the PA: The weapons
must go through Egypt and must be handed over under Egyptian supervision; only
light weapons should be included; and Israel will have the right to impose a
veto on the types and number of weapons.

With regard to handing over security responsibility for additional West Bank
cities, the defense establishment is in agreement.