Putin Promises Palestinian Aid

(CBS/AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday his country would help rebuild Palestinian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip after Israel pulls out of Gaza this summer.

"If we are waiting for President Abbas to fight terrorism, he cannot do it with the resources he has now," Putin said during a joint news conference with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. "We will give the Palestinian Authority technical help by sending equipment, training people. We will give the Palestinian Authority helicopters and also communication equipment. We will bring Palestinian police for training."

Abbas said he would harshly confront militants who violated the Palestinians' fragile truce with Israel.

"To anyone who attempts to sabotage such agreements, we in the Palestinian Authority are responsible for security," he said. "We will confront them."

Palestinian security officials detained four militants for questioning after a barrage of mortar shells and homemade rockets were fired at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip this week despite a truce between the Palestinians and Israel, Palestinian security officials said Friday.

The four members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, were called in for questioning Thursday on suspicion they violated Palestinian commitments, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.

Al Aqsa officials said they had not heard from the men since they were detained.

Putin is the first Kremlin leader to visit the West Bank, but his first gesture there ruffled some feathers in Israel, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger.

He laid a wreath on the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Putin bowed his head, and stood silently at attention. The homage to Arafat is a sore point in Israel, which considers him an arch terrorist and enemy of peace.

Privately, Israeli officials said Putin's gesture was a contradiction of his statements in Jerusalem Thursday, when he said that Israel and Russia should work together to fight terrorism.

Meanwhile, Abbas also said Friday he welcomed Putin's proposal to hold an international Mideast peace conference in Moscow in the fall.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »