Israel, PLO Closer to Resuming Talks : Mideast: Peres says troops could be out of occupied lands six weeks after sides return to bargaining table.

Israel and the PLO moved closer to resuming autonomy talks Saturday, and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Israeli troops could be out of the occupied Gaza Strip and Jericho within six weeks of a return to the negotiating table.

A senior Israeli delegation, reportedly including chief autonomy negotiator Gen. Amnon Shahak, was to leave Sunday for meetings with Palestine Liberation Organization leaders in Tunis, Tunisia.

The two sides are to discuss ways to improve Palestinian security in the occupied territories and the resumption of peace talks. One Israeli proposal is to deploy a Palestinian police force in Hebron, site of the Feb. 25 massacre that led to the suspension of talks.

If the meetings go well, Peres and PLO chief Yasser Arafat will meet Thursday in Paris, and negotiations could resume by March 28, Israel TV said.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said he called Arafat early Saturday, immediately after the U.N. Security Council condemned the massacre. The resolution had been one of the PLO’s conditions for returning to negotiations.

Rabin said he did not offer Arafat concrete proposals but made a general pledge to “give protection to the Palestinians against terrible murderers.”

The PLO suspended talks after a Jewish settler gunned down about 30 worshipers in a Hebron mosque last month. The PLO has demanded that Israel remove Jewish settlers from Hebron and deploy an international force in the occupied lands before negotiations resume.

A PLO Executive Committee member in Tunis said the leadership would not make any decision on resuming talks until the Israeli delegation arrives.

Peres said Israel was proposing that a special Palestinian police force be deployed in Hebron.

Peres also hinted that Israel might decide unilaterally, though not immediately, to dismantle some settlements. Such a decision would be made “based on Israeli logic and security needs,” not under the pressure of negotiations with the PLO, he said.

Once the Israel-PLO talks resume, there could be quick results, he said.