THE MIDDLE EAST: Israeli troops removed two Jewish settler outposts in the West Bank after the Defence Minister, Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, promised to dismantle rogue settlements vulnerable to the Palestinian uprising.
While Mr Ben-Eliezer zeroed in on unsanctioned settlements, the army relaxed its clampdown on West Bank hotbeds of militancy by lifting a curfew in Bethlehem. But more than 500,000 Palestinians remained confined to their homes elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Israel Radio last night reported that Israeli special forces had killed a top bombmaker of the military wing of the Islamic group Hamas in a raid on a house in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinians described the man, Muhanad al-Taher, known as "The Engineer", as topping Israel's most wanted list. The radio said that Mr Taher, head of Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades in the Nablus area, and his men were responsible for the deaths of more than 100 Israelis.
Adding to the pressure on the Palestinians, the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said that Washington was no longer talking to Mr Yasser Arafat and had no plans to do so in the future.
"I worked for 18 months to try to put in place a plan that would allow Chairman Arafat to demonstrate his leadership," he told the CBS programme Face the Nation. "We would have been way along if the violence had been brought down. Chairman Arafat simply did not seize any of these opportunities to bring the violence under control. Moreover, after the Israelis pulled back from the recent occupation . . . we thought maybe we have some movement."
Mr Powell continued "What we saw instead were more bombings. Bombing after bombing after bombing after bombing, day after day. Frankly, we also saw continuing indications that there was complicity with the senior levels in the Palestinian Authority."
Asked if the US would resume contacts with Mr Arafat, Mr Powell said: "I don't expect so."
Mr Arafat, speaking by satellite link to an audience of business and political leaders in Crans Montana, Switzerland, offered to meet President Bush "any time, anywhere" to promote Middle East peace, despite the President's call for his removal.
Mr Arafat, who has announced Palestinian elections for January, said it was impossible to carry out reforms demanded by the international community while Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territory remained "complete and total". He added: "None of my ministers can come and visit me and hold any meetings. It is impossible to achieve reform."
Israel's Deputy Defence Minister, Ms Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, told Israel Radio earlier that settlers had agreed to take down the first 10 designated outposts by today, and another 10 in coming days.
The Israeli army ended a four-day siege of a Palestinian police headquarters on Saturday by blowing up the hilltop compound, where it said about 15 suspected militants had taken refuge.
The fate of the wanted Palestinians was unclear after the fortress-like structure in the city of Hebron was flattened by the explosion.
In Ramallah, Israeli troops hunting for alleged Palestinian militants searched house by house in the al-Amari refugee camp and detained dozens of people, but freed most after questioning, Israel Radio said.
A further 60 Palestinians were reported detained in the village of Tamoun, near Nablus, a militant stronghold. Israeli military sources said two Palestinian ambulances had been stopped in Ramallah with 27 people inside, some of them wanted Palestinians, who were now being interrogated.
Meanwhile, a bomb which police said had been planted by Palestinian militants exploded on a train track in central Israel, slightly injuring four people. A Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Dheishe refugee camp near Bethlehem.