Tanks roll into West Bank townships

NABLUS - Israeli tanks rumbled into the autonomous West Bank towns of Nablus and El Bireh, near Ramallah, overnight, Palestinian security officials said.

About 15 tanks entered Nablus from two directions and Israeli soldiers opened fire, but no casualties were reported.

The last incursion into the town was on May 11, and Israeli tanks have surrounded the city since.

Several Israeli tanks, as well as armoured vehicles, also entered the town of El Bireh. There were no injuries.

Earlier yesterday, the Israeli army shot dead a member of the Palestinian security services in its first Ramallah incursion since lifting its seige of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. They also killed an unarmed man in Gaza, the officials said.

The Army said it arrested two Islamic Jihad activists in Ramallah. The activists were planning a suicide bombing in Jerusalem during a Jewish religious holiday.

Israeli forces also staged a dawn raid on Taluza, a village near Nablus, imposing a curfew and rounding up residents.

The army moved into Taluza, north of Nablus, and arrested at least 20 people in house searches.

An army statement said there was a "brief incursion into Taluza" to "make arrests and destroy terrorist infrastructure in the area".

The army added that its forces at the Aram checkpoint north of Jerusalem had arrested a Palestinian for allegedly planting a bomb in the area.

"The bomb was found and defused," the Army said.

* Palestinian legislators have urged President Yasser Arafat to authorise elections by early next year and form a trimmed-down Government to rule until then.

Hanan Ashrawi, a prominent lawmaker, said a committee of legislators had made the demands after the Palestinian Legislative Council began weighing reforms promised by Arafat under pressure at home and abroad.

The start of moves to put Arafat's pledges of reforms into effect was a welcome signal for the United States and other international leaders who regard reforms of the Palestinian Authority as vital to peace.

The last election was in 1996.

Ashrawi said the legislative committee had also suggested the present Government remain in place for 45 days and then yield to a new 19-member cabinet, down from 32, to be named by Arafat.

The committee also called for an end to competing security services, and for the services to be subject to the rule of law.

A consolidation of the Palestinian Authority's 12 security agencies was one of the key reforms Israel and Western officials have demanded of Arafat to curb militants linked to bombing and shooting attacks which have killed scores of Israelis.

Some of the militants have come from security circles.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, buoyed by a new poll confirming his popularity gained from tough military action after a wave of suicide bombings, said he foresaw a Palestinian state, but only after the Palestinian Authority was revamped.

Arafat responded to widespread pressure from ordinary Palestinians, Israel and foreign leaders by calling on Wednesday for elections and reforms.

* A United States report on Palestinian compliance with the 1993 Oslo peace accords last year found no proof that senior Palestinians ordered attacks on Israelis.

"There is no conclusive evidence that the senior leadership of the [Palestinian Authority] or [Palestine Liberation Army] were involved in planning or approving specific acts of violence," said the report.

- REUTERS

Feature: Middle East

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