Keeping momentum, Abbas and Sharon plan to meet

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel will hold their first summit early next month, in what would be the highest-level contacts between the two sides in more than 18 months.

Although the details were being worked out, the summit has been scheduled for the week of Feb. 8, said David Baker, a spokesman for Sharon.

Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian foreign minister, said the Abbas government was "very close" to reaching an agreement with militant groups on a cease-fire with Israel.

Shaath said representatives of the groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, will travel to Cairo in the first week of February for talks with Egyptian security officials. Those meetings are aimed at securing an end to hostilities against Israel within the framework of a Palestinian national accord. "I think we are very close to a national agreement," he said.

But signs of internal strife among the Palestinian militant groups flared yesterday. A political rally by Hamas in the Gaza refugee camp of Maghazi turned violent as supporters of the rival Fatah faction opened fire, provoking a melee that wounded more than 20 people. The rally was held to celebrate Hamas's victory in recent municipal elections in Gaza.

Speaking at the airport in Amman, Jordan, Abbas said talks with the militants "have come a long way," but more discussions were necessary.

Adding to the growing diplomatic momentum in the region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the region Feb. 6 or 7, a senior Palestinian official said.

Rice promised during her Senate confirmation hearings that she would become personally involved in efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of Israel and Mohammed Dahlan, a top Palestinian security official, were to meet to prepare for the Sharon-Abbas summit, officials said. The talks are expected to focus on an Israeli military pullback from five West Bank cities.

The summit would cap a series of recent steps by Israel and the Palestinians to end more than four years of fighting and resume peace talks. It would be the first gathering of Israeli and Palestinian leaders since Sharon and Abbas signed the so-called road map peace plan in June 2003. Abbas was the Palestinian prime minister at the time.

But differences over the agenda remain, raising questions about what will come out of any new gathering.

Palestinian officials said Abbas was seeking a wide-ranging agenda for the summit, including a formal cease-fire, a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resumption of talks on the peace plan.

Israeli officials said they would consider all Palestinian requests but want the summit to focus on security issues, particularly a halt in violence and incitement. Israeli leaders so far have balked at a formal declaration of a cease-fire.

The US-backed plan, which aims to establish an independent Palestinian state, quickly fell into disarray amid continued fighting and violations by both sides.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary, expressed hope that Rice's visit would provide a new push for the peace plan.

"We highly appreciate this American interest in what is going on in the Palestinian territories," Libdeh said. "We hope that this will be a beginning of a big American involvement between the parties to implement the 'road map.' "

The two sides have shown signs of progress.

Since his election earlier this month, Abbas has coaxed Palestinian militants into suspending attacks on Israeli targets and deployed thousands of Palestinian police throughout the Gaza Strip.

In response, the Israeli military halted offensives in Gaza and said the army would scale back operations in the West Bank. But the Palestinians want Israel to go further.

Dahlan, a senior security adviser to Abbas, said his meeting with Mofaz would focus on Israeli military withdrawals from five cities in the West Bank, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the safety of 400 Palestinian militants wanted by Israeli authorities.

Amos Gilad, a senior adviser to Mofaz, said Israel was ready to consider widespread concessions. "There will be a new attitude of flexibility with a real intention to give a chance to the new Palestinian government, which has declared that its interest is to fight terror," he told Israel Radio.