Palestinians hail Israeli handover

18 hours ago

The Palestinians on Friday hailed what they said was a pledge by Israel to withdraw from four more West Bank towns even though Israeli media reported a raft of conditions attached to the second phase of the promised redeployment.

The announcement of the breakthrough came after a second round of talks in 24 hours between Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan and Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz.

"At the meeting between Dahlan and Mofaz, it was agreed that Israel will withdraw from four Palestinian cities in the next two weeks," Dahlan spokesperson Elias Zananieri told AFP, naming the cities as Jericho, Ramallah, Qalqilya and Tulkarem.

No Israeli officials were immediately available to confirm the pullback pledge, which came after Mofaz had refused to offer more than a single redeployment from the small towns of Jericho and Qalqilya two weeks ago.

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/263182.htm

12 hours ago
A troubled U.S.-backed Middle East peace plan received a significant boost when Israel agreed to withdraw from four more West Bank towns after an upsurge in violence brought a fragile cease-fire close to the breaking point.

The withdrawal agreement was reached Friday between Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan. It came three days after a pair of Palestinian suicide bombings killed two Israelis, and 36 hours after Israeli forces killed a senior Palestinian militant during an arrest operation in the West Bank city of Hebron.

It was not clear how much U.S. pressure was involved in ending the dispute over who should move first Israel in pulling back from more areas of the West Bank, or the Palestinians in starting to dismantle militant groups. Both are required by the "road map" peace plan, officially launched by President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on June 4.

Meanwhile, Israel's Channel One reported late Friday that Israeli warplanes flew low over the holiday residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad this week in an apparent message to Syria that it should act to restrain Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military declined to comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030816_503.html