Sharon holds meeting with Palestinians

Ariel Sharon has had his first meetings with senior Palestinian officials in almost a year, according to reports yesterday. Mr Sharon reportedly met the Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qurei last Wednesday despite his insistence that Israel will not enter into negotiations with the Palestinians until Yasser Arafat is replaced as leader and suicide bombings and other militant attacks end.

According to Israel Radio, the new discussions centred on a plan for the Israeli army to withdraw from some areas it has reoccupied and Palestinian security forces to resume control of them.

"The plan has been to encourage the Palestinians to act energetically and with determination to stop terror," said the head of Mr Sharon's office, Dov Weisglass, who was reportedly present at the talks. "It proposes that everywhere they succeed in preventing attacks or showing that they are making serious efforts to do so, Israel will react accordingly by changing its military deployment in the area and easing restrictions on trade and movement."

The Palestinians have been here before. Similar proposals have all ended in failure. The Israeli army withdrew from Bethlehem and Hebron, only for Mr Sharon to order the tanks back in after new suicide bombings and other militant attacks.

Mr Weisglass also claimed to Israel Radio that Mr Arafat would be sidelined as Palestinian leader within a few months and that a prime minister would take over the day-to-day leadership – though predictions of this sort from Israeli officials should be treated with caution. He claimed Palestinian elections would be held soon. They were scheduled for last month but cancelled because Palestinian cities were still under Israeli military curfew and closure. Mr Arafat was widely expected to win a new presidential term, to US and Israeli dismay.

Reports said the US ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer, was present at the talks, which were held at Mr Sharon's private ranch in southern Israel, and that the talks took place under heavy US pressure. According to Mr Weisglass, the US administration plans to shift its attention to the conflict here after a war in Iraq.

It appears Mr Qurei, also known as Abu Ala, was chosen in order to side-step Mr Arafat, whom both Mr Sharon and President Bush refuse to meet. But Palestinian sources say Mr Qurei cannot agree to anything unless it is approved by Mr Arafat.