Mideast peace 'road map' moves ahead

A US-sponsored peace initiative was finally moving forward after Islamic militants agreed to halt attacks on Israelis for three months and Israel said it would pull back forces from the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem.

US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was arriving today for talks with Israelis and Palestinians about their next moves under the “road map” plan for a Palestinian state by 2005.

The agreement on an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank town of Bethlehem came with a pledge by Israel to halt targeted killings of Palestinian militants, sources said. That would satisfy a demand by the leaders of the radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups who have agreed to a three-month ceasefire.

An Israeli redeployment, along with a halt to suicide bombings and other attacks from the radical Palestinian groups could help end the violence that has undercut the peace plan since US President George W Bush launched it on June 4.

Rice planned to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas later today in the West Bank desert oasis of Jericho. Tomorrow she is meeting Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Her weekend mission coincides with an expected formal announcement by militant groups that they are ending attacks. The declaration would be a turning point in the 33 months of violence – although Israel has been sceptical of the truce idea, and it remains to be seen whether all militants will comply.

The developments, in line with the first phase of “road map,” went ahead even though violence continued last night – a raid by Israeli commandos searching unsuccessfully for a top Hamas bombmaker left four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier dead in the Gaza Strip.

Ahead of an Israeli troop withdrawal, which could come as early as Monday, a newly appointed US envoy, John Wolf, was assembling an American team to monitor the handover of control from Israel to the Palestinians, said US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington.

“We are pleased with the progress we have seen,” Powell said.

Gaza militants said that leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad had accepted a temporary ceasefire negotiated with Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, providing first confirmation by the militants that such a deal has been reached.

“The trilateral document is now ready,” a senior militia leader said.

Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin said his group has informed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas of its views, but stopped short of declaring acceptance.

The truce document applies to settlers and soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza in addition to civilians in Israel, fulfilling a key Israeli demand.

In exchange, the Palestinian groups asked Israel to suspend targeted killings of militants and release prisoners. But these demands were not conditions for beginning the truce.

“I believe that it will be a good document,” said Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi. “It will serve the interest of the Palestinian people and will preserve Palestinian unity and the option of resistance.”

The road map also requires Israel to withdraw to positions held before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.

The deal on an Israeli pullback in the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank town of Bethlehem was a first step. The agreement was reached in talks on Friday between Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan and Israel’s Major General Amos Gilad. Technical details for the withdrawal were to be worked out in meetings tomorrow.

Taking over security control of the areas Israel leaves, the Palestinians have agreed to act against what Israel calls “ticking bombs” – a reference to assailants on their way to attack Israelis, and the people who send them.

“The Palestinian security apparatus is ready to take on this huge responsibility,” Dahlan said.

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the terms of the withdrawal had been deadlocked for several weeks, in part over who would control the main north-south road in Gaza.

Under Friday’s deal, the road will remain open 24 hours a day and the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza will be open 12 hours a day, the Palestinians said.

Meanwhile, a formal announcement on the militant ceasefire was expected tomorrow. The announcement was held to allow the main parties to bring 10 smaller factions on board and to make final touches to the document.

The Syrian-based leaders of the two main militant groups, Khaled Mashal of Hamas and Ramadan Shalah of Islamic Jihad, agreed to the truce this week, according to a Fatah legislator involved in the negotiations.

Israel and the United States have given the ceasefire a lukewarm welcome, preferring instead to see militant groups dismantled, as the road map requires.