From combined dispatches
JERUSALEM — American diplomats told skeptical Palestinian officials yesterday that Israel’s plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip brings an opportunity to revive the “road map” peace initiative, but they said future progress would depend on a Palestinian crackdown on militants.
The U.S. envoys delivered the message in a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia in the West Bank town of Jericho. The team then had two hours of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but no details were disclosed.
In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, witnesses said 12 men, mostly known militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade that make up part of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, were arrested in the city’s psychiatric hospital during a raid by Israeli troops.
The army said there were no casualties from an hourlong gunbattle and that the militants had been meeting at the hospital to plan attacks against Israelis.
Mr. Sharon has proposed a withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza and small parts of the West Bank. He says the Palestinian government is not a partner for peace talks and that a unilateral withdrawal is necessary to protect Israeli interests.
The American team is in the region to discuss Mr. Sharon’s plan, which he will present to President Bush in Washington on April 14.
The Palestinians want assurances the plan will be the first step toward a larger withdrawal from the West Bank, while Israel is seeking American support for limits on future Palestinian demands.
After yesterday’s meeting, Mr. Qureia said he would welcome an Israeli pullback from Gaza, but only if it is part of the U.S.-backed road map.
The road map aims to bring about an independent Palestinian state by next year but has been stalled for months amid violations by Israel and the Palestinians.
Mr. Qureia said he sought assurances the Gaza plan would not prejudice future talks on a permanent settlement, including the status of the West Bank and Jerusalem and the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees who claim property in what is now Israel.
“Unilateralism is not the solution,” Mr. Qureia said. “The only thing that will help and bring forth Palestinian commitments is to negotiate with the Palestinians.”
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the Americans believe Mr. Sharon’s plan is an opportunity to revive the road map. “They see it as part of the road map, and not as a substitute to the road map,” he said.
However, he said, the U.S. diplomats made it clear they expect the Palestinians to honor their road map obligations — particularly the requirement to dismantle violent groups that have killed hundreds of Israelis in the past three years.
The American diplomats — White House officials Steve Hadley and Elliot Abrams, and State Department Middle East envoy William Burns — did not comment after the meeting. But earlier, American officials said they would be telling both sides that Mr. Sharon’s plan has to be consistent with the road map.
“We don’t see unilateral disengagement as a replacement for the road map. It’s a way to jump-start the road map,” one official said on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority implemented a long-awaited reform yesterday, directly depositing the salaries of its security officers into their bank accounts rather than giving them to security chiefs to dole out in cash.
The move had been demanded by Western donors for years as a key reform to reduce the power of security chiefs and to prevent them from skimming millions of dollars from the Palestinian Authority.
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