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23.06.04, 21:31
Suleiman gives Arafat 2 months to implement security reforms
By Yoav Stern and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Following Wednesday's meeting in Ramallah with Egyptian intelligence director
Omar Suleiman, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said he welcomes Egypt's plan
for the Gaza Strip following the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Suleiman gave Arafat two months
in which to implement security reforms and to advance cease-fire talks
between Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.
According to Qureia, Egyptian security experts will arrive in Gaza following
this two-month period to train Palestinian forces.
According to the Egyptian plan, a multinational force will be deployed in the
Gaza City port and at the Strip's airport which will be rehabilitated and
reopened.
Egypt also asks Israel to cease military operations in the Gaza Strip as a
precondition for sending its security experts into the area.
Suleiman was expected to receive in the Wednesday meeting Arafat's response
to earlier Egyptian requests of the PA, including the consolidation of its
multiple security forces into three bodies, the nomination of an interior
minister who would be responsible for the security forces and the transfer of
additional authorities to Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
Suleiman said Arafat promised to appoint his close colleague Tayeb Abdel
Rahim as interior minister within two months.
Following the Arafat-Suleiman, which Palestinian sources described as "very
difficult", the Egyptian intelligence chief met with Foreign Minister Silvan
Shalom in Jerusalem.
Suleiman is scheduled to meet later Wednesday evening with Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a closed-door meeting Wednesday that he
will not allow 74-year-old Arafat to leave his West Bank headquarters "for
the next 45 years," participants reported.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom indirectly confirmed the comment, saying "the
prime minister believes that Arafat must not be allowed to leave the Muqata,"
a reference to Arafat's compound in the city of Ramallah.
Freedom of movement for Arafat was one of the issues raised in recent weeks
with Egyptian mediators.
Sharon: I won't allow Egypt to act as mediator
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday that while he attaches great
importance to talks with the Egyptians on their role in the Gaza Strip, he
does not intend to allow Egypt to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians.
Sharon made the comments in a meeting with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz,
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and military officials ahead of their meetings
with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who will be visiting
Jerusalem on Wednesday.
"We attach vast importance to Egyptian activity in the Gaza Strip and along
the border, but I don't intend to allow Egypt to become a mediator between
Israelis and Palestinians," Sharon said. He also said he would not allow
Egypt to raise the issue of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Gaza or of
comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The disengagement plan, he
said, would remain unilateral.
Despite Sharon's rejection of an Egyptian mediation role, Suleiman told the
international officials that Egypt was determined to move the disengagement
plan forward with cooperation from both Israel and the Palestinians, Israel
Radio reported.
Sharon said renewing negotiations with Palestinians via Egyptian mediation
would thwart the disengagement plan and endanger the internationally backed
road map to peace.
Sharon also said Israeli officials must put an end to the practice of
publicly discussing their personal opinions on Israel's negotiations with
Egypt over the disengagement plan. "The period in which everyone sells his
personal ideas to the Egyptians and the Europeans is over," Sharon
said. "From now on, all positions will come out of the forum we have
established to discuss the issue."
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast doubt on the
wisdom of involving Egypt in Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,
while Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom welcomed what he called Egypt's more
positive attitude.
Netanyahu questioned Israel's decision to involve Egypt in the disengagement
plan. "I don't think that any of us can promise that the Gaza Strip ... won't
be filled with rockets and other weapons that will threaten all the cities of
Israel," he said. "I think that leaning on Egypt is very problematic, very
questionable."
On the other hand, Shalom said Wednesday that although the Egyptians had
softened their approach to working with Israel. Egypt had previously said it
would not cooperate with Israel without first seeing progress on the Israeli-
Palestinian front, but is now willing to help Israel pull out of Gaza, said
Shalom. "Up until now, they spoke 'Palestinian' to us," Shalom told Israel
Radio. "They aren't speaking Palestinian anymore."
The details of Egypt's plan details were released Monday by the Middle East
News Agency in Cairo, which reported that the Gaza port will be rebuilt and
the airport will be repaired, while a safe passage between Gaza and the West
Bank will be arranged.
"A multi-national force will take security responsibility of the airport and
the port, and operate along with Palestinian security forces to ensure that
Israel cannot argue that there is no control of these sensitive sites," a
senior Egyptian source said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said in Cairo on Tuesday that Egyptian
security officers will operate in the Gaza Strip only if Israel conducts a
complete withdrawal.
Maher also rejected Israel's suggestion of constructing a ditch along the
Philadelphi route.
"If this is full withdrawal, then it is not logical to speak of a ditch or
any other arrangements that are opposed to the principle of full withdrawal.
After their withdrawal, what happens on the border will not be Israel's
business," he said.
A senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem said that Israel is opposed to a
cessation of military operations in Gaza. "We will not agree to any such
conditions. If terrorism continues in the Gaza Strip, we will continue
operating there and will not tie our hands," the source said.
The same source, however, expressed confidence that despite the disagreement,
a solution will eventually be found. "We believe that we will find a formula
that will enable us to work in cooperation with Egypt," the source said.
"Our shared interest in this matter is great, and it is no less important for
Egypt than it is for us to have peace in the Strip, which makes it reasonable
that in the end we will reach a solution."
One possible option is to identify specific areas in the Gaza Strip where the
Egyptian advisers will operate and in places where the IDF will not take any
action without prior coordination.
Quartet to meet in Taba
In parallel, a series of diplomatic meetings are scheduled to discuss the
disengagement plan. Representatives of the Quartet will meet in Taba on
Thursday to discuss implementation of the disengagement plan and the reforms
required in the Palestinian Authority.
The Quartet is considering passing a Security Council decision on the
disengagement plan that authorizes Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set the
criteria for Israel's withdrawal and to declare the end of Israel's
occupation of the Gaza Strip if it meets such criteria. The model is similar
to the one used during the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
