Israel accepts exile deal as Abbas cements truce

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, bolstered by Israeli agreement to allow dozens of exiled Palestinian militants to return home, held talks with Hamas leaders yesterday on accepting a truce he reached with Israel.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said 56 deportees, including 39 gunmen sent to Gaza or Europe in 2002 after they holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, would come back to the West Bank under the ceasefire.

Return of the deportees was a key Hamas condition for agreeing to end attacks on Israelis.

"These terrorists will be allowed back in on condition they undertake to abandon violence and live under close Palestinian Authority supervision," an Israeli official said. Palestinian officials said the deal was to be implemented within two weeks.

The announcement was made hours before Abbas met Hamas leaders in what Palestinian officials said would be a determined effort to persuade them to abide by the truce he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared at a summit on Tuesday.

He was due to hold talks with officials of another main militant group, Islamic Jihad, after his session with Hamas.

In Tel Aviv, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz met Abbas aide Mohammed Dahlan, a former security chief.

Their talks, following a meeting they held on Sunday, were expected to focus on Israel's plan to pull troops back from five Palestinian cities in the West Bank over the next few weeks.

Israel is also seeking calm ahead of its planned pullout from the Gaza Strip this summer, a withdrawal it now says it hopes to co-ordinate with the Palestinian Authority.

"Abu Mazen will ask Hamas and Islamic Jihad to respect the (truce) agreement," a senior Palestinian official said. "We should all realise that this is a collective responsibility."

The two groups, dedicated to Israel's destruction, punctured the ceasefire with a barrage of mortar bombs and rockets against Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after the killing of a Palestinian which they blamed on Israel.

Israel did not retaliate, and officials said they would give Abbas a chance to rein in the gunmen.

Israel demands that Abbas, who has deployed Palestinian forces across the Gaza Strip with orders to prevent attacks on Israelis, round up militants, but he hopes to disarm them through negotiations rather than confrontation.

Gunmen seized de facto power on Palestinian streets during a four-year revolt. They began an undeclared ceasefire last month at Abbas's behest but have rejected any formal truce and have said his summit pledge does not bind them.

As part of a package of goodwill gestures to Abbas following his election on January 9 to succeed Yasser Arafat, Israel said it would suspend military operations against leading militants and release 900 of some 8,000 Palestinians held in its jails.

The first batch of 500 prisoners is to go free next week. Of the 56 militants to be allowed to return to the West Bank, 26 were wanted gunmen who barricaded themselves in the Church of the Nativity before agreeing to be deported to Gaza.

Another 13 fugitives from the shrine revered as the site of Jesus' birth were exiled to Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal.

The roster of exiles eligible for return also includes 17 Palestinians deported to Gaza over alleged links to militant groups. Israeli officials said they could not be tried for fear of exposing intelligence sources.

In another apparent gesture to Abbas, Palestinian officials said Israel had agreed to hand remains of 15 militants killed during attacks in Gaza to their families for burial.