Mid-East edges towards truce

A man was killed just before the deal was signed

Israeli and Palestinian security officials have had their first meeting following their agreement to a ceasefire deal designed to end eight months of violence.

Is it the role of Mr Arafat to be the policeman, to protect the Israeli Government in Tel Aviv or Haifa? It is nonsense actually

Hamas spokesman

No details have been given of the talks, which were held at an undisclosed location with the man who brokered the agreement - US Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet.

The deal was rescued from what seemed to be the brink of collapse in late-night talks between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the US envoy.

A BBC correspondent in Jerusalem says neither side is happy with the deal, but pressure is greatest on Mr Arafat.

The agreement is reported to commit Mr Arafat to arrest leading militants.

Immediate withdrawal

Details of the ceasefire agreement have been widely leaked in local media.

According to Israeli press reports Israel has agreed to:

• Immediately withdraw from positions taken since the Palestinian intifada (uprising) began last September
• End the blockade of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Mr Arafat is said to have agreed to:

• Enforce the ceasefire immediately
• Arrest militants from the Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements
• Collect illegally-held weapons.

Mr Arafat resisted calls to create buffer zones in the Palestinian territories to keep the two sides apart.

"With regard to buffer zones, we categorically rejected this idea and would not even discuss it," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Palestinian radio on Wednesday.

Tenet and Arafat: Talks went to the wire

He also insisted that Israel should lift its economically crippling blockade of Palestinian territories "within 48 hours".

However, it appears that Mr Arafat failed to get such a timetable agreed in his talks with the CIA director.

Moreover, Israel has made clear that Mr Arafat must act first to quell Palestinian extremists before it makes any move to relax security.

"When the fire stops completely, we will be able to see changes on the ground within a short period of time regarding pulling back forces and returning life to normal," Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sher told Israeli radio.

Arafat's dilemma

If Mr Arafat goes ahead and arrests Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists, it would be seen by many Palestinians as an act of betrayal.

Sharon: "I can't say I am enthusiastic"

Our correspondent says that, with few political gains made by Mr Arafat, it is hard to see how the Palestinian leader will sell the agreement to his people as the basis for a lasting ceasefire.

Hamas has already dismissed the deal.

Spokesman Muhammad Zahar told the BBC: "Is it the role of Mr Arafat to be the policeman, to protect the Israeli Government in Tel Aviv or Haifa? It is nonsense actually."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been less than fulsome in his backing of the agreement.

"I can't say I am enthusiastic about the plan, but on the whole we can work and move forward," he said on Tuesday.

US President George W Bush praised the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, calling on both sides to build trust "in words but more importantly, in deeds", so that lasting peace could take hold in the Middle East.

During a news conference at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Mr Bush said the CIA Director was "cautiously optimistic" that the agreement would end the violence.

"All the parties must now take additional steps that will place them on the road to a just and lasting peace," he said.

"All the parties must build trust by demonstrating good faith in words, but more importantly in deeds. ... This process is difficult but hopefully it's now begun."

Settlements

Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Minister, Ahmed Maher, has said that for a ceasefire to work, Israel needed to stop building Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories - one of the requirements of a report by an international panel headed by former US Senator George Mitchell.

Israel has been reluctant to agree to do this.

Mr Maher was speaking to the BBC after meeting United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is touring the region in a further attempt to end the violence.