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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns met with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Tel Aviv on Friday as he prepared the ground for the Aqaba summit this week. (AP)
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06/01
Jerusalem Post |
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06/01
Haaretz |
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| By Ellis Shuman June 1, 2003 |
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Three days ahead of the summit meeting to be held between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen and U.S. President George W. Bush in Aqaba, Jordan, the Israeli army lifted the closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and issued additional work permits to Palestinians. Media sources speculated whether Sharon would announce the dismantling of illegal outposts at the summit.
The closure, which has been imposed on the Palestinian territories since the Passover holiday, was lifted at midnight, despite the existence of intelligence warnings of impending terror attacks. In addition to the lifting of the closure, 25,000 Palestinian workers - 15,000 from the Gaza Strip and 10,000 from the West Bank - were to be allowed entry into Israel.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also instructed the army to open additional areas to Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast. According to media reports, Israel will release some 100 administrative detainees ahead of the Aqaba summit.
At their meeting on Thursday night, which was described as "positive," Sharon told Abu Mazen that the army would withdraw from the center of Palestinian towns and was willing to turn over security control to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Abu Mazen reportedly said it would take a few more weeks until the Palestinian security forces were ready to take on these responsibilities.
Defense officials said the army's redeployment was "risky, but worth taking," Army Radio reported. Officials stressed that the IDF was not withdrawing from the territories and did not have large concentrations inside the Palestinian towns anyway. Sharon told Abu Mazen on Thursday that the IDF would not hesitate to initiate anti-terrorist operations wherever necessary until the Palestinians began acting against the terrorists.
"These are definitely actions meant to create a new atmosphere," Deputy Defense Minister
MK Zeev Boim (Likud) said about the Israeli confidence building measures. Regarding the planned release of Palestinian prisoners, Boim told Army Radio, "These are veteran prisoners and those who are in any case on the brink of being released, among them the chronically ill."
Americans working with sides on summit closing statements
Israeli officials left for Aqaba this morning to prepare the technical arrangements of Wednesday's summit meeting. Over the weekend, American officials met with Israeli and Palestinian officials to prepare, in advance, the closing statements for the summit. With Pres. Bush heading towards a re-election campaign, the Americans were working to assure the summit's success, Army Radio reported.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Williams Burns conducted shuttle diplomacy over the weekend between Ramallah and Jerusalem to prepare the ground for the summit.
According to media reports, Abu Mazen was trying to achieve a temporary cease-fire, or hudna, with Hamas ahead of the summit. But Abu Mazen told al-Jazeera television on Friday that it could take up to three weeks to achieve such an understanding with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Sharon's closing statement being prepared for the summit will include official recognition of a Palestinian state and an announcement of Israel's willingness to dismantle illegal outposts as the Palestinians began taking active steps against terror, ynet reported. Haaretz reported that Israel had rejected an American suggestion that Sharon declare an "end to occupation" and it was unclear whether the prime minister would declare the evacuation of the outposts.
Maariv also reported that Sharon planned to declare intentions to evacuate the illegal outposts. A draft version of Sharon's speech called for him to mention "Palestine" by name, but a revised version would show his acceptance of a "Palestinian state," the newspaper said.
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