U.S. envoy returns to Israel

JERUSALEM -- With Mideast violence at its lowest levels in 15 months, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni returned Thursday hoping to prod Israelis and Palestinians into moving forward with a truce plan both sides accepted in principle last year.

Israel pulled back tanks and troops Thursday from a half-dozen Palestinian towns in the West Bank, a move long sought by Palestinians who have had their movements sharply curtailed.

But Israeli troops also seized five suspected militants in Palestinian areas, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government again demanded that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat make more arrests.

The sharp decline in fighting over the past three weeks has raised the possibility that a cease-fire could finally take hold, ending the bloodletting that has claimed about 1,100 lives since September 2000. But Zinni, whose previous mission collapsed in mid-December amid a surge in violence, faces a complicated task.

Sharon demands calm

Sharon demands a week of complete calm before going ahead with the plan drafted last June by CIA chief George Tenet. No Israeli has been killed by a Palestinian in three weeks, but Israel says there are daily incidents that must stop entirely.

The Palestinian leadership says it has done its part to reduce violence and wants a firm timetable for the sides to implement the truce plan.

"I reconfirm in front of you our full commitment to the peace process and the cease-fire decision," Arafat told reporters at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.

Israel's military actions Thursday appeared to send a double-edged message that it was willing to ease the tough restrictions imposed on Palestinians, but it was also demanding further crackdowns against suspected Palestinian militants.

Israeli tanks and troops withdrew from six West Bank towns, although an armored personnel carrier remained in a northern neighborhood of Ramallah that overlooks Arafat's office.

Palestinians called the Israeli moves cosmetic. Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, said the Israelis must "lift the whole closure and normalize the life of the Palestinian people."

During the past 15 months, Israel has enforced stringent travel restrictions on Palestinians. Towns in the West Bank have been under Israeli blockade for much of that time..

Israeli commandos entered a Palestinian-controlled neighborhood of Hebron and detained four suspected activists from the militant Islamic Jihad group, the army said. In a second raid, Israeli troops entered the West Bank village of Kufr Roman and arrested an activist of the militant Hamas group.

"A lessening of the scope of attacks can be seen in the field, (but) Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have still not dealt with the terrorist infrastructure in a fundamental way," said Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. "Additional effort on their part is required."

Zinni, who began meeting with Israeli security officials shortly after he arrived Thursday, is expected to remain in the region four days. He is to hold separate meetings Friday with Sharon and Arafat.

Beyond the immediate aim of a formal truce, Zinni's larger goal is the relaunching of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that collapsed a year ago amid the daily fighting.

If the Tenet cease-fire plan holds, the two sides are to undertake steps outlined last year by an international commission led by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell.

The Mitchell plans calls for the Palestinians to make a full-scale effort to end violence. But a major point of contention between Israel and the Palestinians is a list of 33 Palestinians accused of attacks against Israel.

The Palestinians have arrested about 10, but the Israelis maintain the remainder could also be taken into custody if Arafat was determined to end violence.

Palestinians say some suspects are being sought, but have gone underground, while others won't be detained because they've agreed to abide by Arafat's cease-fire call.

The Mitchell plan also calls for a freeze on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza -- yet Sharon has been a leading proponent of building Israeli settlements throughout his long career.

Another point of friction is Israel's decision to keep Arafat confined to Ramallah until he arrests the leader of a radical faction that claimed responsibility for the October assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.

The Palestinian security chief in the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub, said Thursday he has not received orders to arrest Ahmed Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- and that the Palestinians regarded Saadat as a political figure not linked to violence.

Israel prevented Arafat from attending Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem and has said it will also bar him from Orthodox Christmas celebrations there on Sunday.

"As long as the murderers of Zeevi ... are not arrested, (Arafat) is not leaving" Ramallah, Sharon said Wednesday.