Life goes on as town appears unaware of protacted talks over its decision

THE town of Hebron appeared unaware of the protracted negotiations taking place in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem over its division.

Palestinians shopped for fruits and vegetables under the watchful eyes of khaki«MDBO» «MDNM»clad Israeli soldiers wearing flak jackets and carrying automatic rifles.

Israeli settlers walking in twos and threes, and men in knitted skull caps drifted down the Street of Martyrs which connects the old market with Beit Hadassah, home to 12 settler families. The street was free of motorised traffic, pedestrianised by the Israeli army to provide security for the 250 settlers and 150 yeshiva students who live at the heart of the Palestinian town of 120,000.

In the company of Mr Muhammad Milhem, Mayor of the adjoining town of Halhoul, I strolled down the street past a Turkish bath, a shop selling live chickens and the former bus station, confiscated and occupied by the Israeli army. A party of Spanish diplomats paused to shake hands and chat with Mr Milhem, who became a Palestinian spokesman after being expelled by the Israelis in April 1980.

A stooped old man in a black and«MDBO» «MDNM»white checked kuftiyeh and grey caftan plucked at Mr Milhem's coat sleeve. "Tell them about my house, that they've taken my house," he said, pointing to a building nearby.

From the casbah Mr Milhem drove up the hill route, past the Jewish cemetery and down the other side, taken by cars and trucks denied access to the Martyr's Street. "You see, in order to travel 100 to 200 metres we must now go three to four kilometres," he explained.

Mr Milhem said he could not believe his eyes when he saw a map published in the Israeli press showing the Israeli plan for redeployment.

It gives the Israeli army control over the entire central area, including the Ibrahimi mosque and the souk, the core of the town which the Palestinians call "alKhalil" or "Hebron". "They are leaving us with the five hills and taking all of Hebron proper," he said.

Dr Assad Abdel Rahman, a member of the PLO executive committee, said the Palestine Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, was "fed up with Hebron. He told the Israelis some time ago: `Go ahead, keep Hebron, let's move onto other, more important issues and leave Hebron to the final status talks'."

Dr Rahman said that Mr Arafat "is determined to link Hebron redeployment to the other commitments Israel made but did not implement in Oslo."

Dr Ghassan Khatib, a leading Palestinian commentator, said: "Our only course of action is to create calculated crises to attract external media attention and intervention by Europe. So far this has not been very successful because Israel and the US reject European involvement."