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Mahmoud Abbas meets with Tzipi Livni on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Egypt, Sunday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press May 22, 2006 |
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Palestinian and Israeli leaders held their first high-level meeting since the militant Hamas organization swept to power, and moderate President Mahmoud Abbas voiced deep concern over rising tension with the militants that was linked to assassination attempts on two of his top security aides.
Emerging from a 45-minute meeting Sunday with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Abbas said a further explosion of violence between his mainstream Fatah and the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas was a "red line that nobody dares cross, no matter which side they are on. ... Civil war is forbidden."
Abbas said he would open talks with Hamas on Thursday in a bid to end the raging power struggle between Palestinian factions that threaten the Gaza Strip with civil war.
On Saturday, an explosion at Palestinian intelligence headquarters seriously wounded intelligence chief Tareq Abu Rajab, killed a bodyguard and wounded nine others.
Palestinian authorities said Gaza security chief Rashid Abu Shbak, a central figure in the power struggle, was the targeted by Hamas on Sunday. Security officials found and destroyed the 154-pound (69-kilogram) bomb planted along a route used by Shbak's motorcade.
Fatah officials hinted they believed Hamas was behind both incidents but stopped short of making an open accusation against Hamas.
With no direct control of any security branch, Hamas formed its own 3,000 member security force and sent its members into the streets of Gaza last week despite Abbas' veto.
Fatah officials have demanded the new black-clad force be disbanded, and about 1,000 Fatah supporters rallied against it in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Sunday. Gunmen, some of them masked, fired rifles in the air as an activist in a car shouted through a loudspeaker, "No, to the black militia!" Hamas forces left the streets of Rafah before the Fatah march.
Violence spread to the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis early Monday. A Fatah gunman was killed and another wounded in a shooting attack, security officials said.
Turning to languishing attempts to restart talks with Israel, Abbas told Livni the two sides must restore regular contacts. For her part, Livni assured Abbas the roadmap peace plan drawn up by the international community remained in force. She did not elaborate on the proposal put together by the United States, the U.N., the European Union and Russia that details steps that would end in a Palestinian state and a permanent end to violence.
"It was a very good meeting, a very important meeting and the first of many," Livni said.
Livni's central point during her appearance in the Egyptian Red Sea resort was Israel's demand that the world community not give legitimacy to Hamas so long as it refuses to recognize Israel and rejects international demands for it to disarm.
"It is a terrorist government, on the other hand we want to help the Palestinian people and not to punish them. ...This was part of the discussion," Livni said.
She also said the Israeli Cabinet decided Sunday to use $11 million of the funds owed the Palestinians to buy medicines and health supplies that will be transferred directly to Palestinian hospitals.
Israeli officials and Abbas said the two leaders had discussed preparations for a summit between the Palestinian leader and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert once he returns from a trip to Washington that began Sunday.
Israel radio had said Livni and Abbas wanted to form a "bypass" channel to maintain communications without including Hamas in their talks. Abbas wants to resume peace negotiations with the Israelis.
Olmert cast doubt that his meeting with Abbas would bear fruit, saying in a CNN interview Sunday, that the Palestinian leader is "powerless. He is helpless."
"He's unable to even stop the minimal terror activities amongst the Palestinians. How can he seriously negotiate with Israel and take - assume responsibility for the most major, fundamental issues that are in controversy between us and them?" Olmert said.
Hamas's refusal to drop its vow to destroy Israel has led the U.S. and European Union cut off of vital aid to Palestinians. The lack of funds has thrown the Palestinian territories into turmoil.
Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who joined the Abbas-Livni talks, said he had spoken with Egyptian officials at the conference about "how to help the Palestinians get out of the difficult situation that they are in."
At a news conference on Saturday, Abbas said that there was no path forward for the Palestinians but to seek peace with Israel.
The increasingly violent power struggle between Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas has focused on control of the security apparatus in Gaza.
"I have no other option than to seek the road of peace. ...Our hands will remain extended in peace. Peace is the only option," Abbas said. The Palestinian leader said he would tell Israeli officials he remained opposed to unilateral Israeli actions to separate itself from the Palestinians.
"The only basis for both sides is the road map," he said, referring to the plan that was worked out by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. The effort has been stalled nearly from its inception.
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