In W. Bank, French Leader Backs a Palestinian State

French President Jacques Chirac was greeted with standing ovations and cheering schoolchildren Wednesday as he ended a problem-plagued visit to Israel and headed to the politically friendlier climes of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Chirac, arriving in Palestinian-controlled Ramallah in the West Bank, became the first foreign leader to address the Palestinian legislature. He immediately delighted lawmakers there by repeating his support for establishing a Palestinian state.

Palestinian independence “is not in any way a danger to the security of anyone,” he said. “On the contrary, a Palestinian state and a comprehensive and just peace guarantees security for all.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government will never agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

As Chirac toured the Palestinian-controlled areas, Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. negotiators spent another long day trying to resolve differences still blocking an agreement on an Israeli troop redeployment from the West Bank city of Hebron.

U.S. peace envoy Dennis Ross continued his efforts to broker an accord. But it was unclear Wednesday how quickly, and even whether, such an agreement would come.

“There is progress in some fields, and there is a wide gap in the security negotiations, so we cannot say that there is an agreement before us,” said Nabil Shaath, minister of planning in Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s Cabinet.

But an Israeli source said the two sides were working toward an accord. “It’s hard to imagine that over the coming days we’re not going to have an agreement,” the official said.

The talks Wednesday focused on security arrangements for Hebron, the last major Palestinian city under Israeli occupation. The Israeli army has pulled out of six other cities and hundreds of towns and villages under terms of a 1995 agreement, but the redeployment from Hebron was delayed after a series of suicide bombings in Israel by Islamic extremists last spring.

Elsewhere, there were other security concerns, with warnings from Israeli intelligence officials of alleged plans for Palestinian terrorist attacks inside Israel in the next few days. These apparently would be aimed at sabotaging the fragile peace negotiations and marking the anniversary of the assassination a year ago in Malta of Fathi Shikaki, a leader of the group Islamic Jihad.

Israel announced late Wednesday that it was again sealing the West Bank and Gaza, barring thousands of Palestinians from reaching their jobs in Israel.

Fayed abu Shammalah of The Times’ Jerusalem Bureau contributed to this report from Gaza.