Palestinian leader tries anew to halt Islamic assaults

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The Palestinian Authority's security chief met with 12 rival Palestinian factions Thursday in a new effort to forge a united front and get militant groups to stop bombing and shooting attacks in Israel.

But the meeting ended with no apparent progress, and the radical group Hamas reiterated its opposition to a cease-fire.

Security chief Abdel Razel Yehiyeh left after three hours, refusing to talk with reporters. Other participants said the meeting had been tense and no agreement was reached.

Yehiyeh is trying to get the radicals to accept a common Palestinian manifesto that could form the basis of peace negotiations with Israel. The Palestinian talks broke down earlier this month after Hamas and Islamic Jihad vetoed clauses calling for an end to attacks within Israel and implying recognition of Israel.

The original draft called for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, meaning acceptance of Israel within the borders preceding its occupation of those territories in the 1967 Mideast War.

Hamas objections

A Hamas delegate to the new round of talks in Gaza City said before the meeting his group remained adamant in its objection to that plan and in its demand that all of historic Palestine should be in Arab hands.

"We are going to repeat our opposition and explain why," Mohammed Zahar said.

When Yehiyeh arrived for the meeting, he said he did not expect quick agreement.

"I'm going to brief them on what's going on in the negotiations" with Israel, he said. "I'm not going to wait for answers."

He said he was not planning individual meetings with Hamas leaders Thursday but expected to have such talks soon.

Israel's National Security Council has recommended that the country's borders with the Palestinians be determined quickly -- with or without Palestinian input in peace talks -- to improve the security situation.

In a report published Thursday in the Israeli press, the council said the borders should be set so as to keep most of the Palestinian population outside Israel. That would make it easier to protect Israelis from attacks, it said.

The report was submitted to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday but his aides told Israel media that he was not planning to adopt its recommendations and would not bring it to the Cabinet for a debate.

In the village of Saida in the northern West Bank, a 55-year-old Palestinian woman was killed and her son was wounded Thursday when a bomb exploded at the chicken farm where they were working, Palestinian security officials said.

The farm belonged to an Islamic Jihad fugitive, Ahmed Yassin, 30, the officials said. The fugitive is not related to the Hamas leader by the same name.

No further details were immediately available on the circumstances surrounding the explosion.