Palestinians seek Arab solidarity

The Palestinian uprising is six months old

Arab leaders are gathering in the Jordanian capital, Amman, for a summit at which they are expected to show support for Palestinians opposing Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians are seeking Arab political and financial backing for their six-month-old uprising in the territories, which has cost them about 350 dead and thousands wounded.

But disagreement over demands by Iraq for support in its battle against United Nations trade sanctions threatens to split the summit.

Ariel Sharon: Rejects international intervention

Arab foreign ministers spent the weekend struggling for a compromise that would satisfy Iraq and its Gulf War foes Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, but no agreement was reached.

The summit comes amid deadlock in the UN Security Council over a Palestinian demand for international protection for civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Palestinians want the UN Security Council to back the deployment of observers to help stop six months of bloodshed.

Veto fears

Israel opposes such a move. Its staunch ally, the United States, is likely to use its veto to block any resolution calling for international intervention.

However, Washington fears a veto could trigger more violence and anger oil-rich Arab countries, whose support it needs to strengthen sanctions against Afghanistan and Iraq.

One compromise proposal, pushed by the European members including the UK and France, would postpone any decision on an observer force but criticize the Israelis for expanding Jewish settlements and blockading Palestinian towns.

George Mitchell: Met a reluctant Ariel Sharon

Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon has made it clear that he wants to tackle problems with the Palestinians bilaterally, without international involvement.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who arrived in Amman on Sunday, is due to meet Arab leaders before addressing the summit's first session.

Arab leaders, who promised the Palestinians $1bn at an emergency summit in October, are likely to offer the Palestinian Authority $40m a month to pay salaries and keep its crumbling institutions afloat for the next six months.

They will reiterate a commitment to peace with Israel if it hands back the Palestinian territories and allows the creation of a Palestinian state with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital.

Fresh violence erupted on Sunday in the West Bank, where Palestinian gunmen shot and seriously wounded a Jewish settler. Eight Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli soldiers.

'Historical mistake'

The violence came as Mr Sharon reluctantly met an international fact-finding commission headed by former US Senator George Mitchell.

Before the meeting, the prime minister had said he rejected any links between the beginning of the Palestinian uprising and his controversial visit last September to a disputed holy site in Jerusalem.

Mr Sharon blamed the Palestinians for the violence saying it was a "strategic decision" of their leader, Yasser Arafat.

But Mr Sharon says his predecessor, Ehud Barak, made a grave "historical mistake" by allowing the investigation, equating it with putting Israel before an international tribunal.

Difficulties

Mr Sharon also said the committee had overstepped its mandate on several issues.

Among the difficulties facing the Mitchell commission is the fact that Palestinians and Israelis disagree sharply over what it is supposed to achieve.

Israel insists the team's job is not to apportion blame but to suggest ways of preventing future violence, while the Palestinians want the mission to determine who is to blame.

The commission will presents its report to the UN and Washington next month.