THE MIDDLE EAST: Palestinians angered by lack of access to the Vice President, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in Jerusalem
A political row broke out following the arrival of Mr Dick Cheney in Israel yesterday.
Amid uncertainty over the US Vice President's plans, the Palestinian leadership announced that, unless he was prepared to meet President Arafat face-to-face nobody from their side would meet him.
"It is the first time such a thing happens, that is why we have decided that Palestinian officials will not take part in any meeting with Cheney," said an angry Palestinian Information Minister, Mr Abed Rabbo.
Mr Cheney was in Israel as part of an 11-nation tour aimed at drumming-up support for the US campaign against those it regards as terrorists, particularly Iraq. He met the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Sharon, but it was not clear whether he would meet President Arafat.
Mr Cheney was met on arrival by the US special envoy, Gen Anthony Zinni, who has been chairing peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials. "Our goal is clear: to end the terror and violence, to build confidence between Israelis and Palestinians," Mr Cheney said in Jerusalem.
"We continue to call upon Chairman Arafat to live up to his commitments to renounce once and for all the use of violence as a political weapon and observe a 100 per cent effort to stamp out terrorism.
"In that same spirit I will be talking to Prime Minister Sharon about the steps that Israel can take to alleviate the devastating economic hardship being experienced by innocent Palestinian men, women and children," he continued. Mr Cheney's arrival may provide the necessary boost to ensure the success of Gen Zinni's efforts.
The general is making his third visit to the region to try to secure a lasting ceasefire.
But the Palestinians have set complete Israeli withdrawal from their autonomous areas as a ceasefire precondition.
Some progress was reported. The talks which went on for three hours yesterday were described as "serious and constructive" and are due to resume today.
There was speculation about an imminent withdrawal by the Israeli army from its remaining positions in the Palestinian autonomous areas, such as Bethlehem and Beit Jala in the West Bank. In advance of the meeting between security officials, the Israeli Defence Minister, Mr Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said that final details of the army's withdrawal from Palestinian areas were on the table.
It is understood that the Israeli team were seeking an undertaking from the Palestinians to prevent activists from launching attacks from the areas to be evacuated.
The security meeting was attended on the Palestinian side by the West Bank preventive security chief, Mr Jibril Rajoub and his Gaza Strip counterpart Mr Mohammad Dahlan.
The Israelis were represented by the internal security chief, Mr Avi Dichter and Israeli army officials. Mr Rajoub told AFP beforehand that his side would ask for a "full withdrawal" by Israel from the self-rule territories designated as Area A in the 1993 Oslo peace accords, and "an end to Israeli aggression".
In a separate development, the bodies of two Palestinians killed in an explosion were reportedly found near the central Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim.
It was unclear whether an Israeli mine or tank shell killed the pair, or whether they died from the premature explosion of their own bomb.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, has told Mr Sharon in a letter: "I feel obliged to call your attention to disturbing patterns in the treatment of civilians and humanitarian relief workers by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)."
The death toll continues to mount: at least 1,074 Palestinians and 345 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinians began their uprising in September 2000.