Israeli, Palestinian leaders to meet at summit
JERUSALEM (AP) – The Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday accepted Egypt’s offer to host a summit between them, raising hopes for a breakthrough in Mideast peace efforts after four years of fighting. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered to bring Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Tuesday, capping weeks of a dramatic easing in tensions between the two sides.
King Abdullah II of Jordan, another important figure in regional peacemaking, also will attend, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said.
Qureia said Palestinians hope the summit will produce a mutual cease-fire, a halt to Israel’s targeted killings of militants and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The presence of Egypt and Jordan, both of which have long-standing peace agreements with Israel, would signal firm Arab support for any agreements Sharon and Abbas might reach.
Egypt and Jordan “will be insurance of success for a summit,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
The White House welcomed the summit as “an encouraging step.” Spokesman Scott McClellan called this “an important time to help support the Palestinian leaders to move forward on putting institutions in place for a democratic state to emerge. “At the top of that list for those Palestinian leaders is to address some of the security issues and the violence and the terror,” he said. “They’ve taken some important steps that are positive.”
Erekat said he, Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Dahlan and Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh will meet Thursday with Sharon’s chief of staff, Dov Weisglass, and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to prepare for the summit.
In recent days, there has been bickering over what to raise at a summit, and disagreements remain over the scope of a Palestinian prisoner release, the fate of Palestinian fugitives and a West Bank troop redeployment.
The expected arrival of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the region over the weekend also is intensifying pressure on both sides to settle some differences over what should be announced after the meeting. There has been no word on whether Rice might attend the summit.
Israeli radio stations described Sharon’s invitation to Egypt as “historic.” Mubarak has refused to meet the hard-line leader since he became prime minister in 2001.
Israel’s Security Cabinet will meet Thursday to discuss the summit agenda.
Egypt extended the summit invitation during a meeting Wednesday between Sharon and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. A day before, Suleiman met the leaders of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Khaled Mashaal and Ramadan Shalah, respectively, in Cairo.
The intelligence chief’s unexpected trip to Jerusalem signaled that he made progress in winning a promise from the Palestinian militant groups to halt attacks on Israel.
Israelis and Palestinians have taken major steps toward a cease-fire in recent days but have not yet declared a formal truce.
Palestinian security forces have deployed in Gaza to prevent attacks, and Abbas has won an informal promise from militant leaders to suspend attacks, provided Israel halts military operations.
Israel has said it will halt operations in Gaza and scale them back in the West Bank.
However, the two sides got bogged down this week in mutual accusations following Monday’s killing of a Palestinian girl in Gaza. Each side blamed the other for her death, which triggered a Palestinian mortar barrage.
In other developments Wednesday, senior Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad said the two sides plan to set up a panel to take some Palestinian fugitives off Israel’s wanted list, signaling progress on a major point of contention. Israel has vigorously pursued fugitives, killing or arresting hundreds.
Israel will not pursue Palestinian fugitives who hand in their weapons and sign an agreement pledging not to attack Israelis, Gilad told Army Radio. Gilad brushed off criticism that ending the hunt for fugitives would be tantamount to pardoning Palestinians responsible for killing Israelis, saying any fugitive who violates the pledge will again become a target.
The Palestinians want blanket amnesty for all fugitives. Abbas has said repeatedly he would not confront the militants, preferring to co-opt them. One idea is to bring them into Palestinian security forces.
The Israeli Cabinet is expected to approve the phased handover of five West Banks towns and the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners, which would fall short of Palestinian demands.
In another sign that the new Palestinian leadership is serious about reining in militants, Palestinian security forces destroyed a tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border Wednesday.
Israel has long demanded Palestinian security forces destroy the tunnels, often used by militants to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Gaza Strip. Militants also have killed Israeli soldiers by digging tunnels under military installations and packing them with explosives.
Also, an Israeli military commander, Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, met with Palestinian security chief Moussa Arafat in Gaza and asked Arafat to try harder to stop militants from firing rockets and mortars at Israeli settlements.