An international diplomatic drive for Mideast peace gained momentum today, with Israel welcoming the idea of a regional peace summit and Saudi Arabia suggesting it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative to make it more acceptable to Israel.

The European Union, the US, the UN and Russia convene today in Berlin in search of a way to advance stalled Middle East peace efforts amid strong scepticism about the Palestinians’ planned unity government.

Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu today said Israel has refused him permission to lead a fact-finding mission to investigate Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Mohammed Daraghmeh, Ramallah

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said today that he is freezing the handover of West Bank towns to Palestinian security control because the Palestinians have failed to honour their promise to disarm militants.

The Israeli military was delivering the bodies of 15 militants to the Palestinians for burial today, a day after Israel’s cabinet approved the names of 500 prisoners to be released and security commanders prepared for the handover of a West Bank town to Palestinian control.

Thousands of armed Palestinian police took up positions in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent attacks on Israel, and Islamic militants said they were suspending rocket fire – major steps toward a possible truce after more than four years of bloody Mideast conflict.

Islamic militant group Hamas joined in the mood of optimism in Gaza today and signalled it would suspend rocket attacks on Israel.

A top aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today expressed high hopes for a proposed Mideast conference in London, backing off Israel’s earlier misgivings about the event.

Israel, Egypt and the United States are working to organise a Mideast peace conference in October to co-ordinate an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Even torrential rain failed to dampen Spain’s spectacular royal wedding, according to the country’s newspapers today, with all highlighting that, apart from the glamour, the event marked a crucial moment for the future of the monarchy.

CALLING Hamas an "enemy of peace", US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said the Palestinian Authority must strip the group of its terror network and negotiating a truce as the Palestinian Prime Minister has been doing is not sufficient.

Israel and the Palestinians are resuming top-level security talks despite a bloody week of bombings and missile strikes that left 60 people dead on both sides, officials said today.

ISRAELI troops began dismantling an uninhabited West Bank settlement outpost yesterday, taking a first step toward meeting part of its obligations under a US-backed peace plan.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said today that he will not use force to disarm the militant groups under any circumstances, despite two shootings over the weekend that killed five Israeli soldiers.

THREE Palestinians disguised as Israeli military sneaked into an army post yesterday and killed four soldiers before being killed by troops — the first major attack on Israelis since last week’s Mideast summit.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in an Israeli shopping mall tonight and and paramedics said there were many casualties.

The United Nations children’s agency today urged both sides in the Mideast conflict to stop fighting and seek peace, for their sake of their children.

As Mideast truce talks resumed today, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated his deadly package at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank, killing himself and wounding an officer.