Egypt And Fatah Ask Hamas To Stop

Egypt and officials in Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement are trying to rein in the militant Hamas group, appealing to its leaders to hold off on suicide attacks during Israeli elections because they fear bloodshed could push Israeli voters to reinstall a hard-line government.

Four days of talks in Cairo have so far turned up no deal, though a top Israeli military official said he was optimistic that a cease-fire could be worked out.

Ahead of primary elections later this month, three newspaper polls published Friday indicated Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would stay at the helm of the right-wing Likud Party, setting him up to battle to remain in office in national elections Jan. 28.

The surveys were similar, giving Sharon at least 50 percent of the vote and a double-digit lead over his political rival, Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an outspoken supporter of sending Arafat into exile.

A poll in the Maariv daily also indicated Likud will nearly double its strength in general elections, winning 35 seats in the 120-member parliament, while the more moderate Labor Party is losing three seats, dropping to 22. The leader of the party first able to form a stable coalition becomes prime minister.

Early elections, called when Labor left Sharon's coalition government over a budget dispute last month, appear to have shelved the latest U.S.-backed peace plan.

During more than two years of Mideast violence, Israel has repeatedly demanded the Palestinian Authority go after extremist groups like Hamas, which have dispatched squads of young suicide bombers who have killed hundreds of people in Israeli cities.

Some Palestinian intellectuals and others have spoken out against the attacks, citing the harsh Israeli retribution they draw. Israeli armor and troops have swept into the West Bank to hunt for militants and for nearly half a year have remained there, searching homes and enforcing street curfews.

Palestinians have said the destruction of their security buildings and thinned police resources have made it impossible to stop the bomb-makers and attackers. The Cairo talks appeared to be an attempt to negotiate at least a temporary stop.

Jibril Rajoub, a member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council and a former West Bank security chief, said the meetings in Cairo were an attempt to bring Hamas under the authority of the Palestinian leadership.

"Such meetings are urgently needed even if they have not achieved any results in the beginning," Rajoub told The Associated Press. "I hope that continuing such dialogue between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority will lead to an understanding in which Hamas will recognize the Palestinian Authority as the only authority on the ground.

"Hamas would be wrong to believe they can impose their political agenda on the Palestinian people," he added.

Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, held separate talks with Arafat and Sharon on Thursday to update them on the talks.

Fatah and the Egyptians, who mediated the talks, asked Hamas to halt suicide bombings for three months, until after Israel's election, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity.

Hamas did not turn down the request, but demanded that Israel stop killing its leaders, the official said. Hamas officials said they would give a final answer in a few days after consulting with the group's leaders, he added.

Hamas officials could not be reached for comment by telephone Friday afternoon.

Suleiman reportedly asked Sharon to halt targeted killings during the three-month period, said the official. Israeli snipers and booby trapped telephones and cars have killed 82 wanted militants and 52 bystanders during two years of battles.

Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin said Israel would not change its policy as long as attacks on Israelis continued.

A senior military official, however, told reporters on condition of anonymity that there was a diminished need for targeted killings because, with Israeli troops deployed in major Palestinian population centers, militants were now within reach.

"When the army wasn't in the area, the targeted killings were the only option," the official said. "We're not looking for killings; we prefer to arrest."