LOS ANGELES: A dispute between leading figures in the Bush administration over whether to push for the removal of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is stalling the peace process, a report in the New York Times claims.

While the secretary of state, Colin Powell, and the CIA chief, George Tenet, believe there is no alternative to working with Arafat, the vice president, Dick Cheney, and the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, are said to favour a policy that would undermine him and lead to his removal.

Tenet’s return to the Middle East to continue talks has been delayed because of the dispute, the report says.

President Bush has been under pressure from the Saudis to keep working with Arafat and from Israel to seek his removal or have him sidelined. Bush is said to be still inclined to work with Arafat, but said last week:

Meanwhile, the Israeli army launched three incursions into Palestinian areas at the weekend amid signs that a wider West Bank invasion might be ahead.

The daily raids on West Bank towns intensified after Israel’s army chief, Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, said he saw no need to respect the boundaries of Area A, where the Palestinians were granted full control under the Oslo agreement.

Also on Saturday, Israeli forces invaded Tulkaram, shooting dead a middle-aged man.

The raids were the most intense since May 10, when Israel said it had completed a West Bank offensive intended to destroy the capabilities of suicide bombers. But after four suicide attacks in a week, there were strong suggestions on Sunday that part two of the offensive might be days away.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.