Sharon, Abbas to Talk Peace, Violence Spirals Upward

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas delayed talks on the Middle East roadmap ahead of a highly-anticipated peace summit with US President George Bush.

The dire need to breath life into the moribund peace process was underscored when a Palestinian teenager was shot dead Tuesday in the northern West Bank.

Israel's unprecedented recognition of Palestinian statehood aspirations, with its acceptance Sunday of the so-called roadmap, cleared the way for Bush to host a June summit between Sharon and Abbas.

The document, drawn up by the United States, United Nations, Russia and the European Union, proposes the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

Bush is expected to meet Sharon and Abbas next week, Palestinian and Israeli sources said, adding the summit would be followed by a second gathering with Arab leaders.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Adwan later said that "two summits" would be held during a regional visit by Bush and that "consultations were currently underway to set the date for both summits."

"The first [will be] in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) between President Bush and several Arab leaders, including His Majesty King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak," Adwan told Jordan's Petra official news agency.

"Jordan will host in Aqaba, in presence of King Abdullah, the second summit which will bring together President Bush, Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon," he added.

But the White House was still playing its cards close to the vest, shunning an outright commitment despite Jordan's public confirmation of the summits.

"It's under active consideration, the possibility of meetings," said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.

"At this point, there are just some formalities as the president continues to review the exact manner in which he ... [can] help bring the parties together in bringing peace to the Middle East."

Egypt's state-run news agency MENA reported earlier that the first summit would be held on June 4 and followed by the Bush-Sharon-Abbas meeting the next day.

MENA added that King Mohammed VI of Morocco, King Hamad of Bahrain, Jordan's King Abdullah and Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia would also attend the summit in Egypt.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara left open the possibility his country could take part in the mooted US-Arab meeting, stressing that "the roadmap ... has to address the Lebanese and Syrian tracks."

Sharon's cabinet narrowly approved the roadmap Sunday, and ministers coupled the vote with a resolution denying Palestinian refugees' the right of return to their homes which they lost when Israel was created in 1948.

Sharon faced down rightwing critics in his Likud party Monday, making a rare use of the word "occupation" and saying he would make every effort to reach a political settlement with the Palestinians.

"I think that the idea of keeping 3.5 million Palestinians under occupation is the worst thing for Israel, for the Palestinians and also for the Israeli economy," he was quoted as saying.

But the hawkish premier backtracked on his unusual wording Tuesday with a statement issued by his office that said "he meant that we do not want to rule over the Palestinian population in the areas in dispute."

Sharon and Abbas had planned to meet Wednesday but the talks were delayed for "technical reasons" and "will take place in the next 48 hours," the Palestinian side said.

Israeli government sources said the deferment was due to scheduling problems on the Palestinian side linked to Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio's visit to the region.

The meeting's venue and time still have to be announced but Israeli public radio said it would take place at Sharon's home in central Jerusalem and not his offices, the site of their first gathering on May 17 which was the highest level talks between the sides since the intifada erupted 32 months ago.

Israeli troops shot dead Tuesday a teenage Palestinian in the northern West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem and critically wounded a seven-year-old boy, Palestinian medical sources said.

A Palestinian teenager, who was critically wounded by Israeli troops last week near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, died of his wounds Tuesday in Nablus, medical sources said.

Also in the West Bank, Israeli tanks raided the northern West Bank town of Jenin and its refugee camp, Palestinian security sources said.