Arafat in Cairo to sort out snags in police talks

Arafat in Cairo to sort out snags in police talks

CAIRO (Reuter): Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat came to Cairo yesterday and PLO negotiators said they were looking to him to sort out snags in talks with Israel on a timetable for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho.

Chief PLO negotiator Nabil Shaath, locked in a fourth day of arduous talks with an Israeli delegation, said he still thought it possible to agree by April 13, the target date for Israel to complete the withdrawal and for the Palestinians to start running their own affairs in the two areas.

"I don't not see any major problems...There is some impatience obviously on our side because we think it is about time (the Israelis withdrew)," he told reporters.

Maj. Gen. Nasr Youssef, the newly appointed commander of the Palestinian police force for Gaza and Jericho, said they were waiting for Arafat to resolve the problems holding up agreement on the police force deploying.

Shaath hinted at differences between the civilian and military wings of the Palestinian negotiating team.

On Tuesday Palestinian generals said Israel was dragging its feet by refusing to set a timetable for withdrawal.

Asked about remarks by Palestinian security official Mamdouh Nofal, Shaath said: "He does not make the decisions. Yasser Arafat does. Whatever Mr Arafat decides today will happen."

"Security people like to see things very specifically defined. They do not like to work with uncertainty. I see how one can plan with a little uncertainty...This is why we are expecting Mr Arafat eagerly today," he added.

Shaath later went to the northern suburbs of Cairo to join a meeting between Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country has been mediating between Israel and the PLO.

Arafat had flown in from Jordan, where he told reporters: "We are insisting that the withdrawal should take place at the set time on April 13.

"It's true they have begun evacuating from some bases in Jericho but until now we have not been notified officially when we will be able to send the Palestinian security forces."

The main snag in the negotiations is that the two sides differ on how quick the handover of authority should be.

Israel wants a small group of Palestinian policemen to move into the occupied territories early, to learn the lie of the land and prepare the way for the full force of about 9,000 men.

Timetable

The Palestinians, impatient to see the Israelis go and wary of collaborating too closely, want Israel to set a firm timetable for their withdrawal before they commit themselves too far on the initial deployment.

Shaath, asked if Palestinian commanders were worried about compromising their men by deploying while the Israelis were still present in Gaza and Jericho in force, said: "There are possible visions of that."

The PLO negotiator also appealed for donors to come forward quickly with cash and equipment for the Palestinian police.

"With the exception of Norway, which has provided some cash and uniforms, and Greece, which has given a loan, nothing has come from the donors yet," he said.

"I think that the donors need to see that the money has to be paid not after the signing but now," he added.

The United States has promised to fly some vehicles to the region for use by the Palestinian policemen.

But Shaath said: "They have not arrived yet. I wish they were here. If they were here today, it would have been much easier to transport our Palestinian police."