Draft of Palestinian constitution reviewed by PLO Council

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The PLO Central Council on Thursday reviewed a first draft of a Palestinian constitution, but made no decisions because three-fourths of the 128 members were kept away by an Israeli travel ban.

A constitution is a key element of Palestinian reforms sought by the United States. Israel, which has also pressed for reforms, imposed travel restrictions on Palestinian officials in response to a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 22 Israelis and foreign workers in Tel Aviv earlier this week.

Also Thursday, Israel turned over to the United Nations a captured Syrian and the body of another man, officials said Thursday, a day after a shooting incident near the cease-fire line between the two countries.

A statement released by a U.N. force that oversees the disengagement agreement said that both sides were cooperating with a U.N. probe into the incident. The Israeli army later confirmed the victim's body had been handed over and the prisoner was transferred later.

Although the two countries are bitter enemies, their border has been relatively quiet since Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war. The last armed cross-border infiltration into Israel occurred 15 years ago.

Border dispute

Syria denied that Wednesday's incident was an infiltration and said Israel had violated the cease-fire accord. Damascus said two policemen and a civilian were trying to take water from the Yarmouk River that runs through the demilitarized zone.

At the PLO session, one of the most significant changes put forth in the 222-article draft constitution -- which is to form the basis for a future Palestinian state -- is the addition of a prime minister to head the government, said Planning Minister Nabil Shaath, head of the committee writing the draft. The exact relationship between the prime minister and the president are to be discussed further, Shaath said.

In recent months, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has come under growing pressure to share power and appoint a prime minister who would take oversee the day-to-day running of the Palestinian Authority. Arafat has resisted the idea, promoted by the United States and reform-minded Palestinian legislators.

The draft does not address two key issues -- the borders of a Palestinian state and the fate of 4 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants -- but declares Jerusalem the future capital of a Palestinian state. All three issues would have to be settled in a future peace agreement with Israel.

The document, drafted by Palestinian, Arab and European experts, also contains articles on civil rights and the separation of powers.

Thursday's meeting was little more than symbolic defiance of the Israeli travel ban, with only 30 of the council's Ramallah members showing up.

"They (the Israelis) did not manage to block this meeting," Arafat told reporters. "I consider it a Palestinian challenge while we are managing to meet with this small group of members in this besieged place."

A majority of the PLO Central Council members have to be present to make a decision. The council is a mid-sized decision-making body, bigger than the Palestinian legislature -- many of whose members also belong to the PLO Central Council -- and smaller than the Palestine National Council.

Shaath said the plan was to have the PLO Central Council endorse a first draft, present the constitution to the public for debate, and then send a final version back to the council.

In Jenin, Palestinian police in uniform will begin patrolling streets soon, said Palestinian governor Haider Ershaid. He said Israeli officials agreed to their deployment, as long as they are unarmed.

The Israeli military said 100 police would be allowed to patrol in Jenin, and similar arrangements would be made in the other towns and cities.

Israel has controlled Jenin, at the northern edge of the West Bank, and most other main Palestinian population centers in the West Bank since an incursion in mid-June that followed suicide bombings in Israel. Often the Israelis lift restrictions during the day and reduce their presence in the towns and cities. Ershaid said there was a need for police to keep order.