http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/10/europe/mideast.php
Olmert and Abbas set up talks on two-state solution By Steven Erlanger Monday, September 10, 2007 JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority agreed Monday to set up a team of negotiators to flesh out their understandings of what a permanent, two-state solution would like look and require. According to officials on both sides, the two also agreed to set up eight joint ministerial committees to work on mutual issues like communications, security and economic cooperation. Israeli ministers will work only with Palestinian ministers of the caretaker government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, in Ramallah, not with Hamas ministers in Gaza of the government Abbas fired in June. Olmert also promised Abbas that he would work to release 100 more Palestinian prisoners during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, and would bring the list to his cabinet Sunday. In addition, Olmert told Abbas that the Defense Ministry was working on a plan to reduce the number of "fixed checkpoints" in the West Bank and should have it ready to give to Fayyad next week. Israeli security services have objected to reducing the number of checkpoints, arguing that they are a key part of a security network that stops many suicide bombings. But Olmert is said to want to try to accommodate the needs of Abbas and Fayyad for quick improvements in the West Bank. The Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak of the Labor Party, was said by Olmert aides to be dragging his feet on the issue, in part to shore up his security credentials. The two leaders are expected to meet again this month before Abbas goes to the United Nations and after another visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, expected within a week or so. Hamas, which rejects the right of Israel to exist and opposes a permanent two-state solution, says that these meetings are pointless and that Israel is insincere. Much of Israel, meantime, was speculating about two military operations in the last few days about which little has been revealed. The most concrete was an apparent Israeli undercover raid Friday night into the southern Gaza city of Rafah by commandos in Hamas police uniforms, who captured a Hamas military commander, Mohawah al-Qadi. He was then flown by helicopter into Israel. Qadi is said to know details of the capture of an Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, still being held. But the most important case was an alleged Israeli Air Force raid into Syria at dawn Thursday. The Syrians said they had forced the Israeli planes to flee and denied that they caused any damage. Israeli officials have done little but smile, and say nothing. Olmert went out of his way to praise the military for its work during the Sunday cabinet meeting. The military censor has deleted much of the speculation from the Israeli press. Syrians speculate that the planes were on a raid, and attacked a target that could include new Russian-supplied radars, chemical-weapons facilities or exiled Palestinian leaders of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. But Syrian officials are not admitting to any damage, and Israelis are not talking. Copyright © 2007 The International Herald Tribune | [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
