Israel demands dismarming of Palestinian militants

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministers disagreed Sunday over the possibility for a permanent cease-fire, and shortly afterward three Israelis were shot near Jerusalem.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Israeli vehicles between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Bethlehem, wounding three people, police and rescue services said. Jewish settlers said the wounded were a mother and two children. The mother and her 9-year-old daughter were seriously hurt, hospital officials said, while a second child was wounded slightly.

Israel has urged the Palestinians to dismantle groups that have carried out terror attacks killing hundreds of Israelis -- as stipulated in the peace plan -- but the Palestinian Authority has argued that full confrontation with militants would trigger civil war.

Since the main Palestinian militant groups declared a temporary cease-fire on June 29, violence has dropped dramatically. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said he proposed ways to make the truce permanent.

in talks with his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom.

Shaath said he told Shalom that further Israeli withdrawals from West Bank towns and other steps to allow Palestinians freedom of movement could make it possible for the Palestinian government to negotiate a permanent cease-fire with the militants.

"Their reaction was that they were insistent that this is not enough, and they were insistent on the Palestinians dismantling the militant infrastructure," Shaath said.

Permanent cease-fire

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Shaath and Shalom discussed a permanent cease-fire, though the official said the Palestinians made an outright offer of a permanent truce. He said Shalom rejected the idea.

The Israeli official said Shalom told Shaath that to accept such a proposal would give armed "extremists" the ability to resume attacks, thereby determining the course of peace talks and effectively allowing the militants veto power.

In Ramallah, tensions erupted Saturday when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat urged a group of militants to leave his compound and comply with an Israeli demand that they transfer to Palestinian custody in Jericho, said the militants' leader, Kamal Ghanam.

The militants refused and were confined by guards within the headquarters. A deal was struck on Sunday, however, and the militants were released without having to go to Jericho.

The details of the agreement were unclear. Abdel Fattah Hamayel, a Palestinian minister responsible for negotiating with the militants, said the group "will not be sent to Jericho, they will not be arrested."

"What is still being negotiated is how their security can be assured," he said.

A senior Israeli official said his government's demand remained the same -- the militants should be sent to Jericho.

"They have to be brought to justice," the official said on condition of anonymity. "The wanted people are part of the security plan that has to be implemented."

The standoff over the militants illustrates the tensions that are slowing progress on the road map, which calls for an end to violence and establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

Israel pulled troops out of parts of Gaza and from the West Bank town of Bethlehem shortly after the militants declared their truce.

But further progress has been stalled amid a host of disagreements, including Israel's demand for a crackdown on the militants and Palestinian demands for a mass prisoner release by Israel and for an end to Israel's construction of a security barrier encroaching on West Bank land.

On Sunday, Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlan met with Brig. Gen. Amos Gilad, head of the security and political team in the Israeli Defense Ministry, to discuss an Israeli offer to withdraw from Jericho and Qalqiliya, two other towns occupied during the fighting. Israel first proposed this last week, but the Palestinians insisted on a pullout from Ramallah instead.

A statement by Dahlan's office accused the Israeli side of giving "no genuine commitment" to taking down roadblocks and other barriers around the two towns.

Trying to ease the dispute over prisoners, an Israeli ministerial committee was due to meet Sunday to work out details for the release of several hundred of the 7,700 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. They include some members of militant groups.

"The director general of the Justice ministry will bring a list of 447 prisoners to the committee. If all of them will be released, I can't say now," Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Israel TV.

The list includes 189 security prisoners, 161 administrative detainees and 97 criminal offenders, Lapid said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas plans to meet with faction leaders in Gaza on Monday, Palestinian officials said. He will report on his recent talks in Washington and discuss the future of the cease-fire, as well as concerns over Palestinian prisoners and charges of Israeli truce violations, they said.