Renewed Contact Amid Bloodshed
Israel shut down the office of a leading Palestinian moderate Tuesday as top officials from both sides met for a second day — developments that reflected the contrasting trends in the 21-month conflict.
In persisting violence, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli police in Jerusalem and an Islamic militant was killed in a West Bank gunbattle.
Early Tuesday, Israeli police raided Al Quds University in the village of Abu Dis and closed the office of the president, Sari Nusseibeh, who is the top PLO official in nearby Jerusalem and an outspoken moderate who has criticized suicide bombings.
Nusseibeh was in Greece when the raid took place. Israeli Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau said the university is part of the "long arm of the Palestinian Authority, operating against the law."
Israel and the Palestinians have conflicting claims over Jerusalem. Israel claims the whole city as its capital. The Palestinians want the eastern part, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as their capital. Israel says that under interim peace accords, the Palestinians are banned from political activity in Jerusalem, and police periodically close down their offices.
Despite the raid, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres talked with new ministers in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Cabinet, re-establishing contact that had been all but stopped during 21 months of violence.
Tuesday's meeting was with Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yihiyeh and Local Affairs Minister Saeb Erekat, who has also served as a senior negotiator in past talks with Israel. On Monday, Peres met Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayed.
Peres, from the moderate Labor party, has been pushing for restoring contacts with the Palestinians, against the resistance of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has vetoed peace talks until all Palestinian violence stops.
Erekat said that at Tuesday's meeting, the Palestinians demanded an end to the Israeli military takeover of seven of eight main Palestinian towns and cities, while the Israelis sought a halt to Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks.
Peres' office said the meeting was positive, and both sides recognized the need to continue talks.
On Tuesday, President George W. Bush spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Israel to press his tough line on Yasser Arafat and his call for Israel to reciprocate for recent Palestinian reform efforts.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr. Bush telephoned Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"The president discussed with each of them the importance of pursuing the path to peace in the Middle East. He discussed with each of them the responsibilities of the various parties that do their part to help bring about prospects for peace in the Middle East. And it was a very positive conversation with each of them," Fleischer said.
The telephone calls to Abdullah and Sharon came as Secretary of State Colin Powell prepares for Mideast talks next week in New York with top United Nations, European and Russian officials.
The Bush administration is adamant in demanding Arafat step aside — even though some reform and reshuffling are already evident in the Palestinian movement.
A 50-year-old Palestinian lawyer said Tuesday he would use an anti-corruption platform for a presidential election challenge to Arafat who is under U.S. pressure to step down over graft and terrorism.
Ghassan Barham told Reuters he was unimpressed by a high-level reshuffle of the Palestinian Authority by Arafat who trimmed his cabinet, appointed new ministers and sacked security chiefs under internal and international pressure for reform.
Barham entered the race against Arafat along with Abdel-Sattar Qassem, an academic with Islamic leanings, and Ghazi al-Jabali, a former Palestinian police commissioner.
The presidential vote in January will be the first since 1996.
In renewed violence, a Palestinian bystander died during a shootout between Israeli police and a Palestinian gunman Tuesday.
Near Herod's Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem, police said they spotted suspicious Palestinians and asked for their identity cards. One pulled a pistol and fired at a policeman and point-blank range, wounding him seriously, and then fled.
Police say they exchanged fire with the gunmen. A Palestinian bystander was killed. It was not immediately clear who shot him. After searching the Old City, police said they captured the gunman.
In the West Bank, an activist with the Islamic Jihad group was shot and bled to death before he could reach a hospital, Palestinians said, blaming Israel. They said Moamar Daraghmeh, 30, was armed and on a mission against Israeli targets when he set off from Yamoun village and was shot. The Israeli military said it was investigating.
In Gaza, a Palestinian sentenced to death for collaborating with Israeli security was shot and killed by Palestinian police while trying to escape, the Palestinian prosecutor said. Hussam Hissi, 21, was convicted of helping Israel kill five Palestinian terror suspects.