Mid-East sides vow to pursue peace

The two men met in a carefully choreographed event

The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers have spoken of their desire for peace in a carefully managed joint appearance before talks in Jerusalem.

Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas shared an enthusiastic handshake and said their people held no fundamental enmity towards each other.

Their comments came immediately before the two began talks on how to press ahead with the US-backed peace plan known as the roadmap.

There were sporadic incidents of violence in the 48 hours before their meeting began on Tuesday afternoon, but a tenuous ceasefire between the two sides seemed to be holding.

Enough killing, enough tragedy, enough pain - let's move to the future

Palestinian Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas

Mr Sharon reiterated his promise to make painful concessions to achieve peace, but warned that his primary responsibility was for the safety of his people.

"There will be no compromise with terror. There will be no peace with terror," he said.

Mr Abbas - who is also known as Abu Mazen - said that through dialogue, the two sides could put the past behind them.

"Every day that passes without an agreement is a lost opportunity. Every person killed is a tragedy," he said.

"So enough killing, enough tragedy, enough pain. Let's move to the future," he said.

Complementary

The two statements were so complementary, the BBC's James Reynolds in Jerusalem said, that he would not be surprised if the United States dictated the main points to the two leaders.

ROADMAP MAIN POINTS

Phase 1 (to May 2003): End to violence against Israelis and Palestinians; Palestinian political reform; Israeli withdrawal and freeze on settlement expansion; Palestinian elections

Phase 2: (June-Dec 2003) Creation of an independent Palestinian state; international conference and international monitoring of compliance with roadmap

Phase 3 (2004-2005): Second international conference; permanent status agreement and end of conflict; agreement on final borders, Jerusalem, refugees and settlements; Arab states to agree to peace deals with Israel

Text: Palestinian groups' truce

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

The two men avoided difficult issues including settlements, refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

Shortly before the talks - the third round between the two prime ministers - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat announced that the militants who shot dead a Bulgarian worker in the West Bank yesterday had been arrested.

Mr Arafat did not say how many people were detained or when.

There has been no confirmation of his statement, and the Israeli daily Haaretz later reported that Palestinian security sources had denied it.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian gunman who attacked an army checkpoint in the West Bank, an army spokesman said.

The shooting, near the city of Tulkarm, is the second blamed on Palestinians since the main militant groups declared a ceasefire on Sunday.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have not agreed to observe to the ceasefire.

Early withdrawal

Ahead of his meeting with Mr Sharon in Jerusalem, Abu Mazen told the Palestinian legislature that they would tackle the issues of Jewish settlements, Israel's policy of killing top militants, and restrictions on movement in Palestinian areas.

Click below for a map of the Gaza Strip before the Israeli withdrawal

Enlarge image

He reportedly said he expected Israeli troops to withdraw from all areas occupied since September 2000 within a month-and-a-half.

The US peace plan for the region requires Israel to return control of Palestinian areas to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel has already withdrawn from parts of the Gaza Strip and is expected to begin a pullout from the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday.

Palestinian and Israeli officials are also due to hold further talks on security.

Truce holding

There has been no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attack on the Israeli army checkpoint.

"A terrorist armed with a pistol opened fire at the roadblock, but no one was hurt. The soldiers fired at him and he was killed," said an Israeli army spokesman.

Mr Sharon warned that despite its security agreement with the Palestinian Authority, Israel would not turn a blind eye to the killing of the Bulgarian labourer, Krastiu Radkov, 46.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades says it carried out the attack to show it did not support the truce, despite being an offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah's movement, which has signed the deal.