Arafat Willing to Enter Peace Talks

Following an Israeli offer, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) said Sunday he is ready for peace talks, while about 6,000 Palestinians returned to jobs in Israel for the first time in a month.

In an abrupt turnaround last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) said contacts were already underway with Palestinian officials, adding, "We are ready to enter negotiations at any time."

Sharon had previously conditioned talks on a crackdown on violent Palestinian groups responsible for attacks on Israelis.

Asked about Sharon's remarks, Arafat told reporters he would accept an offer for talks.

"There is no official communication, but we are ready," he said after meeting a delegation of Greek lawmakers at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Talks on the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan have been stalled for weeks because of Palestinian bombing attacks and Israeli military operations, along with the Palestinians' inability to form a stable government.

Arafat has often said he is ready to talk peace, but Israel and the United States are boycotting him, charging that he is tainted by terrorism. They insist on dealing with an empowered prime minister.

On Sunday, Arafat formally asked Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to form a government, and Qureia said he accepted. Palestinian officials said they hoped the work could be completed in a few days.

Arafat's first choice for premier, Mahmoud Abbas, lasted only four months before resigning Sept. 6 after repeated clashes with Arafat over who would run the Palestinian security forces. Abbas also blamed Israel for its failure to stop military operations and ease restrictions.

Qureia has been serving as the head of an emergency 30-day Cabinet. He, too, could not agree with the veteran Palestinian leader over who should be the new interior minister in charge of the armed forces.

The one-month decree runs out Tuesday. Qureia said Sunday he hopes to put together a government that is "acceptable to everyone," but Palestinian officials said the dispute with Arafat over interior minister has not been resolved.

The Israelis announced early Sunday that they would permit about 15,000 Palestinians to enter the country for work. A military announcement referred to "confidence-building measures" decided by the government.

Before dawn, about 6,200 workers over the age of 35 crowded the Erez crossing point from Gaza, submitted to strict security checks and went to jobs in Israel.

The permits arrived at the beginning of the second week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when families traditionally splurge for festive evening meals at the end of the daily fast.

"It is a miracle from God because I was running out of money due to the holy month of Ramadan and I was thinking how I would manage to feed my children in this very bad economic situation," said Mohammed Salman, a 42-year-old construction worker who has seven children.

However, Salman was unhappy with the security checks, which make a trip from his home in the Jebaliya refugee camp to Tel Aviv last several hours instead of less than an hour.

Strict closures were placed on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza before the Jewish New Year holiday in September because of increased concerns about attacks. The restrictions, which had been extended through a series of Jewish holidays — and the Oct. 4 suicide bombing at a that killed 21 — prevented nearly 3 million Palestinians from leaving their communities.

Many Palestinian farmers could not reach their fields, badly damaging the annual olive harvest.

Before fighting erupted three years ago, more than 50,000 Palestinians from Gaza and 100,000 from the West Bank worked in Israel.

Also Sunday, Sharon traveled to Moscow, where he was expected to talk with President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) about Israel's concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran has pledged to open its nuclear program to unfettered inspections and to suspend uranium enrichment. But Israeli officials fear Iran is covertly acquiring nuclear arms know-how, at least some of it from countries of the former Soviet Union.

Meanwhile... FRom Yahoo and Reuters

Hamas Sets Truce Terms, Israel Demands Crackdown

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The Islamic group Hamas ruled out on Monday halting militancy in a three-year-old Palestinian revolt but said it could limit attacks to Israeli soldiers and settlers if the Jewish state stopped harming Palestinian civilians.

The declaration by Hamas chief spokesman Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi could set terms in a dialogue sought by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie on reining in violence in order to advance a U.S.-backed "road map" envisaging peaceful statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites) alongside Israel.

"The issue that will be possible to be addressed (with the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites)) is continuing the resistance to the (Israeli) occupation while avoiding civilian casualties," Rantissi told Reuters at a Gaza Strip safe house. "But if the enemy (Israel) does not accept then resistance will continue comprehensively," he said.

Israel insists on an anti-militant crackdown by the Palestinian Authority as required by the road map, a move rejected by Palestinian officials as a recipe for civil war.

"The only way forward remains unchanged. It is adopting the road map's call for the dismantling of the vast terrorist infrastructure by the Palestinian Authority and the incarceration of terrorist operatives," said Dore Gold, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites).

Hamas is sworn to the Jewish state's destruction and its suicide bombings prompted Israeli assassination campaigns against group leaders -- including Rantissi, who barely survived a helicopter missile strike on his car in June.

PALESTINIAN PM REACHES OUT TO MILITANTS

Squeezed between Israeli military sweeps and mounting Palestinian radicalism, Qurie last week invited militants to discuss a cease-fire that might lead Israel to ease its grip on the West Bank and Gaza. Qurie has also been cobbling together a new cabinet mindful of his predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned in September after a unilateral suspension of attacks he secured from militants collapsed in a new round of tit-for-tat violence.

"We are trying to help Abu Ala (Qurie) to avoid the failure of Abu Mazen (Abbas) by offering to stop attacks on civilians if the enemy accepts to do the same," Rantissi said.

Like most Palestinians, Hamas considers some 250,000 Jewish settlers in the occupied territories as legitimate targets, a view rejected internationally. It says only Palestinians who themselves carry out attacks should be considered combatants.

There is a growing Israeli belief that militant groups are exploiting discontent in the occupied territories, where the uprising erupted in September 2000 after peace talks stalled, and that the Palestinian Authority must therefore be shored up. Israel allowed in more than 6,000 Palestinians to work on Sunday, in a tentative easing of sweeping restrictions on movement that were criticized by the army chief a few days ago.

As part of the latest tentative detente, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has been preparing to meet Palestinian officials, and Sharon has said he would welcome talks with Qurie. Qurie said on Saturday he was willing to take up the offer.

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