March 13, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 9, 1424

NABLUS, March 12: An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian gunman were killed in a West Bank shootout on Wednesday, the latest deadly skirmish between troops scouring the territory and militants fighting Israeli reoccupation.

The shoot-out erupted in the northern village of Saida, close to Tulkarem, as the army searched for wanted Palestinians, 15 of whom were netted in raids across the West Bank.

The Palestinian gunman was identified as a wanted member of the hardline group Islamic Jihad. The group, which has carried out numerous suicide bombings in Israel, claimed responsibility for the soldier’s death in a statement issued in Beirut.

Another Israeli soldier was injured in the clashes, while two other Palestinian gunmen were wounded and arrested, security officials said. Jihad named its dead fighter as Rami Said al-Ashakar, a 21-year-old native of Saida.

The firefight came just two days after another clash in Hebron in the southern West Bank that left an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian gunman dead.

The violence has carried on despite reforms in the Palestinian political leadership, which enjoyed a boost Monday when the parliament voted to appoint a prime minister to share power with veteran leader Yasser Arafat.

Before signing into law in the coming days a power-sharing prime ministerial post overwhelmingly backed by his parliament, Arafat has referred it to a legal panel, officials said.

The move is a key reform of his much-criticised administration, but it was still unclear Wednesday whether the candidate, senior PLO moderate Mahmud Abbas, would accept.

Abbas has said he will only take up the post if it has sufficient powers to push through more reforms.

Israel and the United States have given a cool response to the new post, saying it was not clear it the prime minister would have sufficient clout to divest Arafat of his sweeping executive powers.

Both countries want Arafat dropped, calling him an obstacle to peace.

Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom told US Secretary of State Colin Powell by telephone of his concerns about the limited powers to be granted to the new prime minister, Israel public television reported.

“If Arafat continues to concentrate the authority over security in his own hands, there will be no improvement in relations between Israel and the Palestinians,” Shalom warned.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said it remained to see what Abbas, a moderate who has earned the scorn of hardliners by calling on them to suspend attacks on Israel, would do with his powers.

“Obviously what is most important is what the prime minister will do with the authority given him by the (Palestinian legislative) council and what actually takes place on the ground,” Boucher said.

“We’ve underscored the importance of full empowerment as the best way to provide leadership able to help move the Palestinian people towards President (George W) Bush’s vision of a viable, democratic and independent Palestine, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.”

The United States had noted the “significant definition of powers” which will be held by the person who gets the job. “We look forward to seeing it work out in practice,” Boucher said.

While Arafat maintains his grip on foreign policy and national security under the deal, the prime minister will have control of important internal security forces, including the branch charged with preventing anti-Israeli attacks.

An Israeli intelligence chief confirmed the Palestinian leadership was trying to stop Islamic militants firing rockets into Israel on Tuesday.

“The Palestinian Authority is trying to prevent the firing of Qassam rockets into Israel because of the Israel Defence Forces’ harsh response,” the official told parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee.

Also in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israeli troops arrested a close aide of Marwan Barghuti, the jailed head of Arafat’s Fatah movement in the West Bank, Palestinian security officials said. —AFP