2 Sides Cool to Mideast Plan

Palestinians must take decisive action against militants and get serious about internal reform if they want to move toward statehood as outlined in a new Mideast peace plan, a U.S. envoy told senior Palestinian officials Thursday. But the Palestinians and Israel have expressed reservations about the plan.

The document envisions a gradual Israeli troop pullback to positions held before the outbreak of fighting two years ago. It also calls for Palestinian elections by May 2003, followed by a provisional Palestinian state by the end of next year and a final peace deal and full Palestinian independence by 2005.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat noted that the plan only refers to parliamentary and not presidential elections -- an apparent attempt to circumvent Yasser Arafat.

“This ... is not acceptable,” Erekat told reporters after a meeting with the envoy, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, in the West Bank city of Jericho.

Adhering to a U.S. boycott of Arafat, Burns is not meeting with the Palestinian leader. Arafat’s popularity has plummeted, but if elections are held he is widely expected to be reelected as Palestinian Authority president.

The peace plan also calls for naming a prime minister to handle day-to-day affairs of government. Arafat opposes the idea.

Burns said the Palestinians won’t be able to end occupation unless they end terrorism.

Earlier Thursday, Burns met with Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who said the new plan did not address all of Israel’s security concerns.

“Israel reserves the right to self-defense and will not accept any constraints by this or any other road map,” he said in a statement.

In the West Bank, hundreds of Israeli soldiers entered the town of Jenin early today in response to a deadly Palestinian suicide bombing Monday, the military said.