/ 1 January 2002

Sharon heads to US for new talks

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon headed for Washington early on Sunday as fresh violence hit the West Bank, shortly after US President George Bush hedged his bets on Middle East peace, ruling out any calendar for establishing a Palestinian state despite a plea from his Egyptian counterpart.

As Sharon left Tel Aviv, a Palestinian militant was killed by the Israeli army and four Israeli soldiers were wounded during an attack on a military position next to the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar south of Nablus, Israeli military sources said.

Bush was speaking at the finish of a two-day summit at Camp David with Hosni Mubarak, who hoped to convince Bush to support the creation of a Palestinian state by next year.

Instead, Bush, whose administration has been characterised as unwilling to delve too deeply into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, played his cards close to his chest, despite indications the region could spin out of control any moment.

”We’re not ready to lay down a specific calendar except for the fact we need to get started quickly, soon, so that we can seize the moment,” Bush said at a joint press conference with Mubarak.

Bush’s comments meshed with the views of Sharon who headed for the US capital with the aim of persuading the White House to usher Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat off the political stage.

Sharon has long insisted on an interim agreement before the

creation of a Palestinian state and has ruled out any negotiations until attacks on Israelis are halted.

The burly, hardline former general could point to the bloodshed on Saturday as further proof he should yield no quarter and press his demands for the complete overhaul of the Palestinian Authority.

Two Palestinian gunmen slipped into a settlement outpost,

killing an Israeli man and his pregnant wife, before one was gunned down and the other escaped, the army said.

The attack on the Karmei Tzur outpost near the southern West Bank town of Hebron was only one of a series of successful Palestinian raids on settlements.

Another Israeli was killed and five others were injured in the pre-dawn shooting rampage. Four Palestinians were also killed in two abortive attacks on the Gaza Strip, sources on both sides said.

At Sufa in the southern Gaza strip, three Palestinians died when a bomb they were carrying exploded near the electronic barrier that separates the region from Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli naval shore unit fired on other

Palestinians as they attempted to swim ashore near the northern Gaza Strip settlement of Dugit.

The army said the body of one man was recovered along with a bag containing weapons. The fate of the second man was not known.

The armed wing of the radical Palestinian group Hamas claimed responsibility for both the Sufa and Karmei Tzur attacks. Tensions have been rising in the region since a suicide bombing on Wednesday that killed 17 Israelis.

The Israelis have followed up a massive West Bank offensive with recent hit-and-run raids on various towns, and Israeli troops continued on Saturday to occupy the northern West Bank town of Jenin, a day after storming in and triggering clashes with Palestinian forces, residents said.

But events on the ground did not hasten action from Bush, who instead spoke about the need for further consultations.

”Part of the consultation process that we are having is to

determine what’s feasible in terms of that political dialogue, what’s feasible in terms of the timetable that a lot of people are anxious to talk about,” he added.

He demanded the building of Palestinian institutions that could be the pillars of a state and declared that Arafat ”must do everything in his power to stop the violence, to stop the attacks on Israel. I mean everything”.

Ignoring the counsel of Mubarak, Bush lashed out at the

Palestinian leader.

”I am disappointed in his leadership. I think he has let the Palestinian people down,” he said.

Mubarak, whose country was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, was pitching a plan based on creation of a Palestinian state by early 2003 with temporary borders.

Openly disagreeing with Bush, Mubarak told reporters that Arafat should be given ”a chance” to carry out promised political and security reforms as well as quell anti-Israeli attacks.

”We are working very hard with cooperation with the United

States for the reform in the Palestinian Authority. Such a chance will prove that (Arafat) is going to deliver or not,” said Mubarak, warning of more chaos without the declaration of a Palestinian state.

The summit was sure to be viewed with disappointment by Arabs who had hoped Bush was moving toward a more even-handed approach in the conflict, where Israel is often perceived to have received carte blanche by Washington.

Sharon, meanwhile, left for Washington and a sixth round of

talks with Bush on Monday when he will likely renew his plea for the Americans to dump Arafat.

Until now, US officials have resisted Sharon’s drive to sideline the ageing leader in the past but appeared to be wavering.

Bush said Friday he would unveil his new game plan for Middle East peace, after his round of talks with Mubarak and Sharon.

The United States has announced its backing for a

ministerial-level conference on the Middle East that would include participation by the EU, UN and Russia, but has not yet defined the conference’s goals, date and venue.

Apparently heeding the rumblings from Washington, Palestinian cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman said a revamped Authority cabinet should be announced in the next 48 hours. – Sapa-AFP