W. Asia meetings clear the decks for talks

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), APRIL 5. A series of meetings between Israelis and Palestinians yesterday seem to have gone off better than expected. Nothing substantive has been clinched and the main gain appears to be that the two sides were able to set aside the bitterness produced by six months of violent confrontation while exploring the avenues by which they can re-start a dialogue.

An attack early this morning on a senior Palestinian security official does not appear serious enough to derail the process even before it has really begun.

The convoy in which Mr. Mohammed Dahlan, head of the Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security unit in the Gaza Strip, was travelling was hit by Israeli gun-fire in the early hours of the morning. Mr. Dahlan has taken a tough line on the confrontations with Israel since it began in late September but he was returning this morning after a long session with senior Israeli military and intelligence officials.

The Israelis say they fired on Mr. Dahlan's convoy after gun-fire was directed at one of their posts from the first Palestinian vehicle in the convoy. There was no reason for them to have targeted Mr. Dahlan just after he had discussed the possibilities for security co-operation with his Israeli counterparts. Palestinians believe that the Israelis opened fire without provocation but there is a good chance that the confusion surrounding the incident will be cleared soon.

It is not clear whether any decisions on resuming co- operation on security matters was clinched at the late night session.

While Mr. Dahlan is a senior officer in the Palestinian security services, he is not that high up in the hierarchy as to decide the fate of the talks. The signal for Mr. Dahlan and his colleagues to participate in yesterday's discussions came after the Mr. Omri Sharon, son of the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, called on the Palestinian Authority President, Mr. Yasser Arafat, earlier yesterday. It is unlikely that Mr. Arafat will reverse a major decision - the resumption of security discussions before the revival of the political dialogue is a major decision - because of a failed attack on one of his officials.

Mr. Sharon was reported to have said that he was satisfied with the meeting his son had had with Mr. Arafat. Though the contents of the discussion have not been disclosed, it probably contained a message from the Prime Minister that the revival of political discussions was impossible without the restoration of security co-operation even if not complete security.

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Section  : International
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