Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom rejected Tuesday a proposal by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Israel dismantle West Bank outposts and release "political prisoners" as a goodwill gesture to the new Palestinian leadership.
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There is no place for new initiatives before a new Palestinian government is chosen, Sharon told Lavrov, who arrived in Israel on Tuesday afternoon for talks in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah. The visit followed a high-level meeting of the Quartet in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
"Gestures now are likely to achieve a reverse result," Sharon told Lavrov during their meeting in Jerusalem. "They will come when there is a stable government, and when there is someon who is willing to take steps in the fight against terror and [implementation of] reforms."
Shalom said Israeli gestures ahead of the January 9 Palestinian Authority chairmanship elections might end up harming the moderates.
"At this stage, when they are having elections, the issue of gestures doesn't help the moderates and is even likely to harm them, if they appear to be Israeli agents." He said the "bear hug" Israel gave Fatah candidate for PA chairman and new Palestine Liberation Organization chief Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) when he served as the PA's first chairman only weakened his stature.
Sharon also said Israel "wants to move forward in the [peace] process," but that Palestinians must fight terror for negotiations to be feasible. The prime minister also told Lavrov that Israel would work with the Palestinians on the security for the PA elections, just as it coordinated Yasser Arafat's funeral with the Palestinians.
In the future, Sharon said, Israel will also be prepared to work with the Palestinians on withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank - but will not agree to release the Palestinians from their commitment to fight terror and dismantle the terror infrastructure.
"It's important that the Palestinians don't have any illusions that international pressure will bring about a change in Israel's position regarding security," Sharon said. He added that Israel would not interfere in the "internal Palestinian issue" of a cease-fire, saying only, "If it will be quiet, we will react with quiet."
UK's Straw to hold talks on
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was due in the region Wednesday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders likely to focus
on the Palestinian elections and the disengagement plan.
British officials said Straw wanted to hear how Israel would help ensure the smooth running of the elections. On a Thursday visit to the territories, Straw is also due to press the Palestinians to reform their security services to help end violence, the officials said.
"Making sure the elections take place properly and effectively requires the Palestinians to do more on security ... and for the Israelis to loosen their grip on the West Bank and Gaza," said a senior British official.
Straw will meet with Sharon, Shalom and other senior politicians on Wednesday before going to Ramallah on Thursday. There he will meet Abbas and PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. He will also lay a wreath at Arafat's grave.
Quartet agrees to help PA pay for elections Meanwhile, members of the Quartet - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - have agreed to help the PA pay for their elections to choose a new chairman, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said Tuesday.
Annan, Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said they would seek to provide the Palestinians with financial support from the Quartet and wider international community. None of them mentioned any amounts of money.
Speaking after the Quartet meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Annan also said there were "discussions with the Israeli government about releasing some of the funds due to the Palestinians."
The Quartet also urged Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians before the elections to replace late PA chairman Yasser Arafat. The request followed an Israeli pledge Monday to allow Palestinians greater freedom of movement to hold the elections.
The EU announced Monday it would send observers to monitor the PA election.
Sharon told Powell on Monday that Israel will agree to coordinate both the upcoming Palestinian election and next summer's disengagement from Gaza with the Palestinian Authority, but "if the PA does not take steps against terror, it will be impossible to advance."
Sharon promised Powell, who visited both Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, that Israel would make every effort to ensure the success of the PA election.
Specifically, he said, Israel would facilitate freedom of movement by opening transit points and withdrawing Israeli troops from the territories, but only on condition that this does not harm Israel's security.
Sharon also said that East Jerusalem residents would be allowed to vote. "We have a few thousand American citizens who vote here, and the Palestinians can be handled the same way," he said.
The Quartet members see the elections as a crucial step toward reviving their road map peace plan.
"If ... people are going to campaign and move around to vote some of the restrictions will have to be lifted and we are hopeful that that will be done," Annan said Tuesday.
Responding to a question on whether Israel should remove the roadblocks and pull troops back from around Palestinian towns, Lavrov said: "We certainly believe that whatever gestures aimed at confidence building Israel could make would be helpful at this stage."
"Israel could assist with getting in touch with the Palestinians and ensuring that all those Palestinians who want to vote can do so," he added.
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