A court has acquitted the owner of an Egyptian ferry that sank in the Red Sea more than two years ago, killing more than 1,000 people.

The Palestinian president and the Israeli prime minister are to meet in the West Bank tomorrow ahead of a peace conference in the United States, a Palestinian official said.

Rival Palestinian delegations met in the dark hours of the morning as they prepared for crucial talks in the Saudi holy city Macca today on ending their bloody street battles and resuming the peace process with Israel.

The top Hamas leader today told Mahmoud Abbas that the Islamic militant group was ready for a political partnership after trouncing the Palestinian leader’s Fatah Party in legislative elections – a shocking upset sure to throw Middle East peacemaking into turmoil.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today ordered an investigation into the shooting of a key critic of his unrelenting grip on power as Palestinian officials warned of dire consequences for law and order in their territory.

PALESTINIAN leader Yasser Arafat declared the roadmap for peace plan dead as his rival, Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas, said he would quit if he doesn't win a vote of confidence.

Palestinian leaders were today locked in a power struggle triggered by Yasser Arafat’s attempt to hand control over all the security forces to a loyalist in apparent hope of sidelining the US-backed Palestinian security chief, officials said.

Palestinian leaders were today locked in a power struggle triggered by Yasser Arafat’s attempt to hand control over all the security forces to a loyalist in apparent hope of sidelining the US-backed Palestinian security chief, officials said.

PRIME Minister Mahmoud Abbas could be ousted by the Palestinian parliament unless he returns from Washington with substantial concessions from Israel, the Palestinian information minister said yesterday.

The Palestinian Authority is trying to convince militants to extend their ceasefire indefinitely, an official has said.

A KIDNAPPED taxi driver freed in an Israeli commando raid was greeted with a street party yesterday and the military said his captors were not backed by major Palestinian militant groups.

Yasser Arafat, under growing international and domestic pressure to carry out reforms, admitted today that he has made mistakes, promised to restructure his government and said there would be elections.