June 16, 2003	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1424

TEL AVIV, June 15: Middle East peace hopes brightened on Sunday with progress reported in bringing Palestinian militants on board a ceasefire deal and an accord near on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from some occupied areas.

The moves came amid intense pressure from Washington to end one of the worst cycles of bloodshed in the 32-month-old conflict and advance on an international plan championed by President George Bush.

New Israeli-Palestinian security talks were held on Sunday and the Palestinian factions were meeting among themselves as a senior US diplomat started his mission here to oversee implementation of the roadmap.

Mr Bush has forecast “a tough road” to peace and on Sunday said the international community must “deal harshly” with Hamas and other groups behind anti-Israeli attacks.

But Palestinian officials expressed confidence they were on track towards a ceasefire agreement with the prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, due to meet the various Palestinian groups on Monday in Gaza.

“We are sure we will come out with positive results,” his information minister, Nabil Amr, said after a cabinet meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah. He said preliminary contacts with the groups had produced “encouraging messages”.

Hamas, which has been responsible for most of the anti-Israeli violence in the Palestinian uprising, had broken off a dialogue with Mr Abbas. But Amr was hopeful of progress with them as well.

“Abu Mazen (as Abbas is also called) will clarify the whole situation with the factions in his meetings tomorrow, and we are sure they are willing to assume their responsibilities.”

An Egyptian delegation headed by an aide to their intelligence chief Omar Suleiman arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for talks with the factions on a ceasefire after a week of bloodshed that claimed more than 50 lives.

Hamas has rejected the idea of a truce but its senior political leader Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi, who narrowly escaped an Israeli assassination attempt last week, kept the group’s options open.

GAZA PULLOUT: Israel and the Palestinians held a second round of security talks on Sunday to finalize an accord on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the Gaza Strip and perhaps the West Bank town of Bethlehem, both sides said.

They said General Amos Gilad, coordinator of Israeli activities in the Palestinian territories, and senior Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan would meet again after an initial session late Saturday.

Israeli army radio said Gilad offered the partial pullouts in return for a Palestinian pledge to prevent militants from launching rocket attacks on Israel from the evacuated areas of Gaza.

Amr said discussions continued on the withdrawals and transfer of policing responsibilities to the Palestinians. “We are ready to move in anywhere the Israelis will withdraw,” he added.—AFP