Abbas To Discuss With Sharon Detainees

     Al-Hayat     2003/07/19

Saida Hamad, Mohammed Shazli - Occupied Jerusalem, Cairo

Palestinian premier Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon are getting ready to take their negotiations files to Washington, where they will meet the American President George Bush successively, with a period of four days separating each meeting. They are carrying two agendas that seem to be contradictory, for the first one will seek to discuss the actual implementation of the Roadmap, including the means to establish the Palestinian state. Meanwhile, Sharon will focus on an essential message that is that the "period of tolerance," which his government gave to the Palestinian government, has ended and that the Palestinian Authority should start "fighting terrorism."

Israeli political sources assured that the Israeli premier is set to notify his Palestinian counterpart of Israel's approval to release a number of Palestinian detainees from Hamas and Islamic Jihad during their meeting, expected to take place tomorrow Sunday. This will be the second meeting since the Aqaba summit, taking place in the context of the "positive" image Sharon is trying to create before his visit to Washington on July 29.

The same sources pointed out that Sharon will preside the session of the Israeli ministerial committee in charge of the Palestinian detainees file, on the eve of the meeting with Abbas, and this, to decide the release of 40 to 60 Palestinian prisoners Israel believes are from the two Palestinian movements, out of around 400 prisoners. The internal Israeli intelligence (Shabak) suggested freeing them as a show of good will toward Abbas. The majority of these prisoners are administrative detainees, who were detained by the occupation authorities without trial or accusations. As for the prisoners from Hamas and Jihad, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz said they were not political activists or politicians, but were accused by Israel of financially helping the families of martyrs and Palestinian detainees, as well as religious men accused of inciting their followers to join organizations and carry out suicidal operations.

The daily pointed out that the decision to release these prisoners could be explained as an effort to improve the image that will help Sharon during his planned visit to Washington. Israeli political sources said that he would announce early next week Israel's approval to allow 26 Palestinians, whom the occupation forces had forced to go to Gaza during the Intifada, to return to the West Bank, their place of residence, while the fate of 13 other Palestinians, who were besieged last year in Al Mahd church in Bethlehem and then kept away out of the country, remained undecided. This decision came within a Palestinian-Israeli deal, according to which the Israeli army lifted its siege on Al Mahd church in return for keeping away these Palestinians for a one-year period and they are still waiting for them to come back. Israeli political sources said that Sharon is also going to call for resuming the dismantling operations of the small settlements built over the last three years, ten days before going to Washington, pointing out that an Israeli military withdrawal from the Palestinian cities "is not on the table right now." Sharon carries "a basic message" to the American president according to the same sources, and that is that "the tolerance period" that Israel gave the Abbas government to organize the security bodies in order to assume the security responsibility has ended, and that the Palestinians should immediately start "fighting terrorism" and spreading their security control over Gaza and Bethlehem, which the Israeli army has occupied once again. It seems that the Sharon-Abbas meeting also comes as part of the preparations for their meetings with Bush, on July 25 and 29 respectively.

The Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Silvan Shalom, had asserted in his statements that the meeting between Sharon and Abbas will be held tomorrow Sunday, pointing out at the same time that he will go to Washington before his Premier to meet the American Vice-President Dick Cheney and other officials in the American administration. Shalom said that Washington will see a "very intensive political week."      

For the first time, Shalom praised the Palestinian government by saying: "I think that the new leadership (Palestinian) talks differently and means its what it says."

Israel welcomed Abbas' invitation to Washington, saying that it approves it and that is was based on consultations with the Israeli government. It added that even if Sharon will not enjoy this time "the pride of leadership" in visiting Washington because Abbas will go there before him, yet this will diminish "double pressures" on him before and after the visit, according to the main political analysts in the daily Ha'aretz, Alof Ben. He added that this will save Sharon from "pushing twice" in the issue of freeing the prisoners and diminish the siege on Palestinians in addition to lifting the barracks and dismantling the settlements.

As for the Palestinian PM Abbas, he is getting ready for the first official visit of a Palestinian official in this status since 2001 under the former American President Bill Clinton. Abbas will go to Washington after visiting Cairo and Amman "in order to mobilize the efforts to push forward the peace process in the region" according to his sayings in Al Quds daily. This visit comes after he got an authorization from the Palestinian President that is under the siege in his headquarters in Ramallah on a request of the Director of the Egyptian Intelligence, Omar Suleiman.

Abbas met the American special envoy John Wolf in his office in Ramallah on Thursday to prepare the expected meeting with Bush next week that will be preceded by meetings with the U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, the Vice-President, Dick Cheney and representatives of the Arab Diaspora in the U.S. The issues of the detainees and settlements are on top of the agenda, in addition to stop building the separation wall and lift the siege on the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian President. Moreover, they will discuss the meticulous implementation of the Roadmap plan by the Palestinian and the Israeli sides alike.

Abbas will be accompanied in his tour by the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Qoreih and the ministers of Foreign affairs, Security and Finance, Nabil Shaath, Mohammed Dahlan and Salam Fayad.

Sources from Abbas' office assured to Al-Hayat that no meeting would take place between the Palestinian premier, the Israeli premier and the American President, pointing out that Abbas will leave for Washington before Sharon arrives there.

The Palestinian side is counting on the results of the meeting between Bush and Abbas to give a real boost to exert real pressures on the Israeli government to implement the due points of the Roadmap plan, including searching for the "seriousness" of this government in the implementation, especially after the Israeli parliament refused to consider the West Bank and Gaza as occupied territories. This decision was taken according to a draft law presented by the ruling Likud.

Cairo welcomed the visit the Palestinian premier intends to make to Egypt next Monday to meet President Hosni Mubarak, as part of an Arab tour that includes Jordan, shortly before heading to the U.S. to meet President Bush on next Friday, and then to Morocco. Palestinian sources in Cairo explained that Abbas will meet on the eve of his visit to Cairo his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon and that he was going to discuss with Egyptian officials the results of this meeting, in addition to the agenda of his talks in the U.S. The Palestinian ambassador to Cairo told Al-Hayat that Mubarak and Abbas would discuss the implementation of the Roadmap, the Israeli violations and fixing the truce the Palestinian factions declared. He talked as well about the special role Egypt is playing in supporting the Palestinian people's process and peace in the region.

In addition, 40 trucks of diverse Egyptian goods and products entered yesterday the Palestinian regions of self-control via the international trade line within the framework of trade agreement cooperation between Egypt and Palestine. However, the entrance procedures in Gaza Strip are still hindered by the occupation authorities, the matter that causes the sufferings of the Palestinians that are coming back from their holidays to their cities and villages via Rafah port road.

On the other hand, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmad Maher, would hold talks on Saturday morning with his Spanish counterpart Anna Palacio that arrived to Cairo yesterday. These talks would be about the developments of the situations in the region and the joint efforts to implement the Roadmap, in addition to the cooperation between Europe and the Middle East and reinforcing the bilateral relations. Maher will also hold next Thursday talks with his Kenyan counterpart, who is heading a ministerial delegation comprised of the Ministers of Irrigation and Agriculture.