Olmert, Abbas to meet today, seal talks framework - Haaretz

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Wed., January 09, 2008 Shvat 2, 5768

Israel Time: 02:21 (EST+7)

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Olmert, Abbas to meet today, seal talks framework

By Barak Ravid

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are scheduled to meet in Jerusalem today to confirm the agreement to create negotiating committees and teams that will tackle the conflict's core issues.

Olmert will also tell Abbas that Israel will not allow back into the country most of the Palestinian militants who took refuge in the Church of the Nativity when it was sieged in April 2002.

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The Palestinians have requested that Israel allow the transfer of the militants to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip, where they are now.

A security source told Haaretz yesterday that the matter has been thoroughly evaluated after requests by the Palestinians, and the conclusion is that most of the militants are still involved in terrorism.

Yesterday, the negotiating teams headed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her counterpart in the talks, former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia, met to finalize the agreements on the framework of the negotiations.

According to the deal reported in Haaretz earlier this week, all the core issues in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a final-status agreement will be discussed in a special committee headed by Livni and Qureia. The core issues are considered to be the three most complex and difficult ones: borders, refugees and Jerusalem. The remaining issues such as security, trade, economics, law and civil issues will be dealt with in separate committees.

Olmert and Abbas will monitor the progress of the negotiations and will contribute to resolving deadlocks.

The prime minister spent all day yesterday preparing for the visit by President George W. Bush, who is scheduled to arrive in Israel midday Wednesday, at the start of an eight-day visit to the region.

Olmert held a working meeting with President Shimon Peres yesterday and coordinated with him the messages that should be emphasized during Bush's visit.

Olmert will hold a final meeting today with Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak before Bush's arrival, and discuss the details of what they will tell the American president.

For the first time since she was appointed to head the negotiations with the Palestinians, Livni visited the IDF divisional headquarters in the West Bank yesterday. She received an intelligence briefing from GOC Central Command, Major General Gadi Shamni, as well as other senior officers.

During her visit, Livni took an aggressive stance on illegal outposts. The foreign minister said that there cannot be any unauthorized understandings on the way the defense establishment is handling the issue of the outposts.

"This is a matter of enforcing the law and it must be dealt with," she said.

The head of the Civil Administration, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, told Livni that there are currently 89 outposts in the West Bank, and that the defense establishment takes action "every day and night in order to prevent their expansion."

During a tour near Nablus, Livni said that the security forces of the Palestinian Authority are still weak and find it difficult to operate, so the Israel Defense Forces must take action in the area against militants.

She said that Israel "has no intention of throwing the key [control] to the other side, at the end of the process," but said that she hoped for the best.

However, Livni stressed that Israel must assist the PA to become stronger because the situation is changing.

"We must have an effective governing authority on the ground with which we can reach agreements and manage to implement them. If such an authority is not in place, we will not progress to the implementation stage," she said.

During a visit to IDF roadblocks near Ramallah and Nablus, Livni said that "where it is possible to alleviate the movement of Palestinians, we should do it."

Livni told the IDF commanders in the area that Israel will continue to take action against the terrorist groups in order to ensure the security of Israeli citizens, "also during negotiations with the Palestinians."

"As foreign minister I have said in the past that where Israel needs to fight for its security, it must do so - even at the cost of international criticism," she added.

Also yesterday, the foreign minister had to intervene to expedite the crossing of Qureia and his family at the Allenby Bridge, as they were returning from Jordan. Qureia had threatened to cancel a negotiating meeting with Livni. The meeting took place several hours later.

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