The Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, has declared his willingness to meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, for peace talks, provided there is a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and tanks from areas under Palestinian jurisdiction. The President of the Palestinian Authority was speaking to The Irish Times in advance of a further meeting with the US peace envoy, Gen Anthony Zinni.
Israeli and Palestinian field commanders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip held talks yesterday in a sign that the Zinni mission was making progress.
Sent by President Bush to secure a ceasefire, Gen Zinni's shuttle diplomacy between the two sides was, however, being hindered by an upsurge in violence. A suicide bomber blew himself up in Jerusalem; a Palestinian gunman killed a young Israeli woman before being himself; and a Palestinian militiaman was reported shot dead in a confrontation with Israeli troops in Bethlehem.
President Arafat answered, "Why not?", when he was asked if he would meet Mr Sharon. "If he is ready, I am ready." But it could only happen if there was a complete Israeli withdrawal: "I am not asking for the moon." Speaking at his office in the West Bank, Mr Arafat pointed out that all the peace agreements sponsored by the superpowers were based on the concept of "land for peace". But he expressed appreciation for US and European Union peace efforts, especially the landmark UN Security Council resolution last week which held out the prospect of a Palestinian state.
The Israeli government has eased restrictions on Mr Arafat's movements but he said a key test was whether he was allowed attend the Arab League summit in Beirut at the end of the month. He said it was his "right" to attend but he would also need to be sure he would be allowed to return.
Commenting on the latest Palestinian attacks, Mr Dore Gold, an adviser to the Prime Minister said: "Israel has offered a ceasefire, pulled back most of its forces in good faith, and this seems to be the answer Israel is receiving." In an effort to ensure the success of Gen Zinni's mission, Israel had gone "the extra mile" by setting aside the requirement for seven days of calm in advance of negotiations and pulling back virtually all of its forces. "We are ready to go forward for a ceasefire, the ball really is in the Palestinian court."
Mr Gold rejected the notion of introducing international monitors. He said they could be useful when a conflict had already been resolved, for example, observing the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
"When you put monitors in an ongoing conflict, they become part of the problem, not the solution," he said.
A breakthrough seemed imminent on Saturday night when Mr Sharon's office issued a statement, following talks with Gen Zinni, indicating that the Prime Minister was ready to attend a three-way meeting with Mr Zinni and the Palestinians next day for the immediate declaration of a ceasefire. But less than an hour later, Mr Sharon's office retracted its statement after the Palestinians demanded a full Israeli pullout from their autonomous territory.
Commenting on the latest Palestinian attacks, Gen Zinni said: "It is critical that the Palestinian Authority take responsibility and act against terror."
The US Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, arrives in Israel today as part of his Middle East tour. Asked if he would be holding talks with Mr Cheney, Mr Arafat said: "He didn't ask to meet me." A senior official from President Arafat's office, Mr Nabil Abu Rudeinah, told journalists he hoped the international community would continue "urging the US to put enough pressure on the Israelis to start implementing the Tenet and Mitchell reports, otherwise we will stay in a very dangerous situation".