Egypt to press Palestinian militants to end attacks

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Egypt will send its intelligence chief to the Palestinian areas next week in a renewed effort to press militant groups to halt attacks on Israel, Palestinian officials said Friday.

The visit by Gen. Omar Suleiman comes amid growing Palestinian concerns that Israel will impose its own borders on the West Bank if peace efforts break down.

With Egyptian backing, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia has been trying to persuade the militant groups to commit to a truce as a step toward resuming peace talks with Israel. Suleiman has led the Egyptian mediation efforts.

The visit will follow a Thursday meeting between Egyptian presidential envoy Osama el-Baz and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

During those talks, Egypt agreed to resume its mediation efforts with the militant groups, said Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian minister of negotiations. A trip date has not been set, he added.

Egyptian officials were not available for comment Friday.

The cease-fire efforts come after Israel this week carried out an unsuccessful missile strike in the Gaza Strip aimed at two members of the Hamas militant group. Hamas vowed revenge.

The previous week, Israel killed three Islamic Jihad militants in a similar airstrike, while a Palestinian suicide bomber killed four Israelis near Tel Aviv.

Israel also has been raiding the West Bank city of Nablus and Gaza town of Rafah in recent weeks, searching for militants.

On Friday night, a large roadside bomb blew up next to a military jeep in Nablus, causing no injuries, the army said. The blast knocked out power in the immediate area, witnesses said.

El-Baz on Thursday pressed Arafat to lead the way toward ending three years of violence with Israel, saying he was hopeful Israel will respond positively.

Since taking office in October, Qureia has made a truce a top priority. But the efforts so far have been unsuccessful, with Egyptian-sponsored talks in Cairo last month ending without agreement.

A truce commitment by the Palestinians could pave the way toward full-fledged negotiations on the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which envisions an independent Palestinian state by 2005.

The peace plan requires the Palestinians to disarm militant groups and the Israelis to freeze settlement construction -- steps neither side has taken.

Militant groups have been reluctant to commit to a truce, citing Israel's continuing military operations. On Friday, some 4,000 people joined a demonstration sponsored by the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp.

The rally marked the death of military wing leader Meklad Hameid in last week's airstrike.

Dozens of protesters wore T-shirts with Hameid's picture, and about 300 uniformed gunmen marched with rocket launchers, mortars and machine guns.

Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azam blamed Israel for the failure to reach a cease-fire.

"Everything depends on the occupation. In the Cairo dialogue, we offered to spare civilians the agonies of war and the answer we received was the invasion of Rafah, the resumption of airstrikes and killings all over the occupied lands," he said.

Sharon said last month that if there was no progress on the peace plan, he would move to unilaterally redraw the boundaries between Israel and the Palestinians.

While Sharon said his plan would include the removal of some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, he also said the Palestinians would receive far more land under a negotiated settlement.

Israel is building a contentious separation barrier in the West Bank. Israel says the wall is needed to block suicide bombers but the Palestinians call it a land grab.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military lifted a blockade on the West Bank town of Jenin, the army said Friday. Troops encircled the town after an Aug. 17 suicide bombing in Jerusalem.