RAMALLAH, March 16: US envoy Anthony Zinni held talks on Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah with the Palestinian negotiating committee, in a bid to secure a ceasefire with Israel.

The Palestinian delegation included top negotiator Saeb Erakat, parliament speaker Ahmed Qorei, information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, Gaza Strip preventive security chief Mohammad Dahlan and Arafat financial adviser Khaled Salaam.

Also present were the US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer.

Palestinian minister for parliamentary affairs Nabil Amr said before the talks that the meeting was a “political one, during which the Palestinians will demand a US guarantee that Israel will not return into area A”.

That was a reference to territory under Palestinian administrative and security control.

“After we obtain this guarantee, we will demand a serious decision on sending international observers to the Palestinian territories,” he added.

For his part, top Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said “Zinni’s visit is a new opportunity for the peace process which must lead to a full Israeli withdrawal (from autonomous Palestinian areas) and a stop to Israel’s aggressions and assassinations.

“A political meeting with the Israelis must take place either before or at the same time as security contacts,” Abu Rudeina added.

The meeting was held in Yasser Arafat’s compound, though Zinni and the Palestinian leader, who already met on Friday, were not expected to hold further talks.

On Saturday afternoon, Russia’s Middle East envoy Andrei Vdovin arrived in Ramallah for talks with the Palestinian leader.—AFP