MIDDLE EAST: Less than a day after his security chiefs met their Palestinian counterparts in a bid to find a formula for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from reoccupied swathes of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon denounced the Palestinian Authority as a "murderous gang" with whom Israel should not negotiate, Peter Hirschberg reports Jerusalem.
Mr Sharon, who was addressing graduates of the National Security Academy yesterday, tried to distinguish between the general population and their leaders, calling on Palestinians to turf out "the regime of terror" ruling them.
The joint security talks, held in the early hours of yesterday morning in a bid to forge agreement over a phased pull-out of Israeli troops, ended predictably without any breakthrough. But Israeli officials did say the two sides had agreed to meet again next week.
The more than three-hour meeting floundered over the Palestinian demand that the Israeli army withdraw not only from Gaza, but also from the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Israel has proposed a plan - dubbed "Gaza first" - whereby the military would pull out of certain areas in the occupied territories in exchange for a Palestinian Authority clampdown on militant groups. Israel insisted the pull-out begin first in Gaza.
But the Palestinians insisted Israel had reneged on an offer to withdraw from Bethlehem as well. Mr Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an aide to the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, declared the meeting a "failure", saying Israel had imposed conditions which were "impossible to accept or even to implement".
In Washington, a high-level Palestinian delegation held the first senior-level talks with American officials since President Bush called in June for the replacement of Mr Arafat. Before meeting National Security Adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice, the head of the Palestinian delegation, Mr Saeb Erekat, said US intervention was essential in ending the violence.
"You need a third party," Mr Erekat told reporters. "We will do the negotiations, Israel and the Palestinians. But we need a third party to vouch for what either said."
Mr Erekat also rejected the president's call for a new leadership, insisting the alternative to Mr Arafat was chaos.
"Where do you think I come from - from Mars?" Mr Erekat asked. "I am part of President Arafat's leadership."
The Palestinian team was also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell later yesterday.
Even as the talks proceeded, violence continued, with a Palestinian teenager killed and four injured as Israeli tanks and troops thrust into the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia for the second time in 48 hours.
The army also continued its policy yesterday of house demolitions - a punitive measure that has drawn strong international criticism - destroying the West Bank homes of four Palestinians it said were involved in suicide bombings.