US - MIDDLE EAST: An Israeli battalion commander and two Palestinians were killed early yesterday as Washington announced that preparations are being made for a Middle East peace conference early in the summer.
The deaths occurred during a five-hour Israeli raid into the northern West Bank town of Nablus, the scene of a fierce Israeli military assault last month.
A second Israeli officer was seriously wounded. The Israeli army said that the incursion was designed to destroy the "terrorist infrastructure" and prevent attacks against Israeli civilians. Fifteen Palestinians were detained, the majority said to be members of Islamist groups.
After meeting with the "quartet" consisting of the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanof, and EU representatives, the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, stated: "This is a time for prompt action to take advantage of this new window of opportunity that has been presented to us, and we intend to do just that."
Mr Powell's statement was seconded by the US President, Mr George Bush, who said he believed progress was being made towards ending the 19-month-old Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation and restarting talks on the establishment of a Palestinian state. Mr Bush appeared to adopt a more even-handed stance than in recent weeks when he had been totally supportive of Israel.
Mr Bush told the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, that the Palestinian state "must be achieved by negotiating an end occupation" while warning the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, that "such a state cannot be based on terror or corruption".
The immediate and short-term aims of the "quartet" are to halt violence and terrorism, end Israel's sieges and curfews, rebuild Palestinian security structures and boost humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Although the peace summit is expected to be held in Europe, neither venue nor date has been set.
Mr Arafat reacted cautiously to the announcement. "Until now it is only an idea and we welcome it, but we have not yet agreed to it." He also said he is prepared to negotiate with Mr Sharon despite his military offensive in Palestinian population centres.
"He is the person who has been elected by the Israelis and we are dealing with him . . . because our partner is the Israeli people," Mr Arafat stated.
However, Mr Sharon is not ready to negotiate with Mr Arafat and the US has proposed to convene the conference at foreign minister level to exclude the Palestinian leader.
Arab foreign ministers are due to convene in Cairo on Wednesday to adopt a unified stance on the peace conference proposal. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the author of the Arab land-for-peace plan will be on hand during this event and could meet with Mr Arafat.
These moves coincide with a summit between Mr Bush and Mr Sharon who will outline his own peace plan which was presented to his cabinet yesterday.
Arab states, angered over Israel's rejection of a UN mission to investigate the actions of Israel's army during its assault on the Jenin refugee camp, threatened to take the matter out of the hands of the Security Council and call for for an emergency session of the General Assembly. Arab diplomats argued that they could at least count on obtaining Assembly condemnation of Israel while Council resolutions, which are meant to be mandatory, are routinely ignored by Israel.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch issued a report alleging that Israeli forces might have committed war crimes in Jenin. Although it found no evidence of a large-scale massacre, the organisation reported that 52 Palestinians had been killed, 22 of whom were identified as civilians. Human Rights Watch said: "Many of the civilians were killed wilfully or unlawfully" and the Israeli army "used Palestinian civilians as human shields and used indiscriminate and excessive force during the operation".
AFP adds from Vilnius: The UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson, urged Israeli authorities yesterday to seriously consider a "credible" report by Human Rights Watch that its soldiers committed war crimes in the Jenin refugee camp.
"We have a credible report of Human Rights Watch raising prima facie concerns of breaches of international humanitarian law and disproportionate force against the civilian population in the Jenin refugee camp," she said.
