Sharon and Arafat play blame game as Palestinian gunman is killed

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused each other of stoking the Middle East conflict yesterday as a Palestinian gunman was killed and three Israelis wounded.

Despite contact between the sides and talk of a possible Israeli troop pullback, violence persists and both leaders continue to trade recriminations.

Mr Sharon again said he did not believe Mr Arafat’s government would take action to prevent Palestinian attacks against Israel.

“Arafat is the head of terrorism and no one is counting on him,” Mr Sharon told a Cabinet meeting, according to Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar.

In recent Israeli-Palestinian talks, the focus has been on Israeli troops pulling out of Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian security forces moving in to take control. If calm prevails, Israel would look at easing its occupation of the West Bank.

However, the talks have stalled.

On another front, a Palestinian delegation was in Washington last week for discussions with senior US officials on stabilising the region and reforming the Palestinian security forces.

Mr Sharon called Palestinian proposals for an Israeli pullback “a trick designed to coincide with the talks

between Palestinian officials and US leaders”.

Mr Arafat said he was encouraged by the Washington discussions, which included the highest-level meetings between US and Palestinian officials in months.

“There were very positive talks and today they will return and give a full explanation,” Mr Arafat said of the Palestinian team.

But Mr Arafat also said he did not think Mr Sharon’s government was serious about peace negotiations. “This government is looking only for more escalation for its military plans, they are not looking to achieve peace,” Mr Arafat said at his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian Authority interior minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh met CIA director George Tenet outside Washington on Saturday.

Mr Yehiyeh said he was revamping the Palestinian security force and firing officers he found to be incompetent.

Yesterday, in the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian militant after he shot at Israelis working on a fence at a Jewish settlement of Dugit, wounding one of them, the army said.

The gunman hit the Israeli worker with at least five bullets in his arms and legs, according to the Barzilai Hospital in the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Two Israeli soldiers were wounded by Palestinian gunfire in the West Bank town of Jenin, the army added.