PLO Suspends Negotiations With Israel on Autonomy : Mideast: Palestinians’ chief delegate charges that proposed troop pullout is not what was agreed on. Rabin minimizes dispute.

The Palestine Liberation Organization suspended negotiations with Israel on Tuesday on Palestinian self-government in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, rejecting as insufficient Israel’s plans for pulling back its troops in the two areas.

Nabil Shaath, the chief Palestinian delegate at the negotiations, said Israel’s proposal amounts to a redeployment of its forces in Gaza and the Jericho area in the West Bank and does not constitute the withdrawal that Palestinians believe had been agreed on earlier.

“The plan in our mind falls far short of the requirements of the Declaration of Principles (on Palestinian autonomy) and, therefore, we are suspending the meetings here to go back to our leadership,” Shaath told a news conference in the Egyptian resort town of Taba.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin minimized the dispute, saying “mini-crises were expected” during the negotiations.

“There will be ups and downs--don’t worry,” Rabin said. “We will not compromise on anything that is linked to the security needs. And we must be patient.”

Nevertheless, the suspension--Israeli officials expect the negotiations to resume Monday--was the first serious problem since the Taba talks began three weeks ago. Both Israeli and Palestinian officials are now concerned that the delegations may not meet their Dec. 13 deadline for a program implementing the autonomy agreement.

Shaath said he planned to return to Tunis to confer with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. He urged the Israeli delegates to consult their government to “come up with an interpretation that would allow us to proceed smoothly.”

Maj. Gen. Amnon Shahak, the chief Israeli delegate, acknowledged that the Palestinians interpret the basic agreement much differently than did Israel and said he respects their decision to confer with Arafat before responding to Israel’s proposal. “This is not a setback,” Shahak insisted.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin, an architect of the breakthrough on Palestinian self-government, criticized the PLO decision to suspend the talks.

“We have made a proposal that I think is very legitimate, and it is a great shame that the Palestinian response is to get up and leave, to pack up instead of talking,” Beilin said.

That decision was made by Arafat, according to Palestinian sources, who said he felt that Israel was not abiding by the basic accord--and that the delegation was not tough enough in answering the Israeli proposal.

As he announced the suspension, however, Shaath was firm in insisting that Israel must begin the promised withdrawal in mid-December.

“We reject everything that does not mean a straight Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho,” he said. “And the Israelis are not talking about withdrawal; they are talking about redeployment. This is really a basic difference in concept. . . .

“We feel that the Israeli interpretation of that agreement (on the Declaration of Principles) quite fails to grasp the meaning of withdrawal and its requirements. The agreement provided for withdrawal by the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area, and not within the Gaza Strip and Jericho area.”

Shahak countered that the agreement also provided for continuing Israeli security for the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and Jericho area, as well as for Israel’s maintenance of overall security. These requirements, in turn, implied a strong military presence under Palestinian autonomy, he said.

“We did not present our withdrawal plan as an ultimatum,” Shahak added. “It seems they need the time to clarify some things for themselves.” Although the first snag in the Taba talks, the withdrawal question “surely won’t be the last one or the most difficult,” he said.

Sources close to the Taba talks said the Israeli plan provides for a pullback from the Gaza towns and refugee camps; the construction of new security roads to Israel through unpopulated areas, and the concentration of forces around three fenced-off enclaves of Jewish settlements in northern Gaza, near Gaza City and in southern Gaza.

One issue is the size of these Israeli forces and where they will be stationed, the sources said; another is whether the Israeli troops would have full access to all the roads through Palestinian areas or just to those leading to the settlements, and a third is Israel’s insistence on full control of entry into the two areas.

Palestinian sources said the PLO wants Israel to pull all its troops out of the Gaza Strip and Jericho area and to deploy an Israeli police force to protect the settlements. It also wants joint or international control of the entry points and the deployment of an international force in the two regions.