Israelis reluctantly resume peace talks

The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, yesterday instructed his security chief to resume talks with their counterparts in the Palestinian National Authority. His decision, taken under pressure from the US, the UN and Europe, effectively ends his boycott of the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, who directs the Palestinian security services.

The US and Europe opposed Mr Sharon's decision to shun Mr Arafat and criticised the Israeli characterisation of the Palestinian leader as "irrelevant". A Western diplomat observed wryly that Mr Arafat was "made more relevant by that irrelevant remark".

According to a reliable source, the two sides began their security "conversation" yesterday, before Mr Sharon made his announcement. A formal meeting was planned to take place last night.

Palestinians have "focused on preventing suicide bombings and mortar attacks", the source said. He added that the Palestinians claimed to have foiled six potential suicide attacks in Gaza and four-to-five in the West Bank.

The source said: "The Palestinians have had considerable success in addressing the problem of mortar attacks. These have plummeted from 12 a night to nil over the past few days."

The Israelis said that there were no shooting incidents during the night of Tuesday-Wednesday, the average having been five a night. An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded by a sniper yesterday morning in the West Bank.

The Palestinians claim they closed 13 Hamas and Islamic Jihad offices in Gaza on Monday and another six on Tuesday.

Israel reported that 15 Palestinian policemen were arrested yesterday, which if true would mark the first Palestinian detention of policemen involved in attacks against Israel.

Mr Muhammad Dahlan, the head of Palestinian preventive security in Gaza, took a firm line, asserting: "We will arrest anyone who violates Authority decisions."

Mr Arafat's Fateh movement announced yesterday that it supports a temporary truce, bolstering his position for the time being. This line is highly unpopular with ordinary Palestinians who oppose the crackdown Mr Arafat promised in last Sunday's address to the nation. Subsequently, a senior Hamas official said the hardline Palestinian Islamic movement was calling a halt to its suicide bombings against Israel.

The latest opinion poll, conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre (JMCC), shows that 80.1 per cent support the continuation of the uprising and 57.6 per cent believe Mr Arafat's decision to call a halt to resistance activities was not justified.

Furthermore, 67.5 per cent support military operations as the Palestinian response to Israel's occupation policies and 64 per cent continue to advocate suicide bombings. The approval rating of Mr Arafat's Fateh movement has fallen to 26 per cent and has, for the first time ever, been overtaken by the combined rating of Hamas and Islamic Jihad which is 27-28 per cent.

This means Mr Arafat has adopted a perilous strategy. In an interview with The Irish Times, Dr Ghassan Khatib, a leading Palestinian commentator and JMCC publisher, asserted: "The EU dictated his speech in response to US needs" rather than Palestinian demands. "Hamas and Islamic Jihad will wait for a while to see what Israel does. If Israel resumes its assassinations of leaders and random killings, they will respond."

He made the point that individuals would also retaliate for Israeli attacks on relatives and humiliations inflicted by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints. "There are a lot of weapons circulating. Two or three friends can take a decision to mount shooting attacks. A suicide bombing costs 500 Israeli shekels and takes three persons to organise. The recipe \for a bomb is widespread, they can even get the recipe on the internet."