Discord Intrudes on Eve of Talks

WASHINGTON â€”  The United States today begins the first high-level talks with Palestinian officials since President Bush called for a new leadership to replace Yasser Arafat as a condition for establishing a Palestinian state in three years.

But the two-day talks produced conflict even before they began. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Wednesday rejected the Bush administration’s call for alternative leaders to mediate the implementation of political, economic and security reforms.

“That cannot be acceptable,� said Erekat, who will head the three-member delegation in Washington. “Where do you think I come from--from Mars? I am part of President Arafat’s leadership.�

Erekat also warned at a news conference that removing or marginalizing Arafat, the Palestinian Authority president, would produce chaos.

The Palestinians will hold talks today with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on political and security issues, followed Friday by discussions with the U.S. Agency for International Development on the Palestinians’ worsening living conditions.

The talks are expected to be a test of whether Bush’s strategy to revive the peace process, outlined in his June 24 speech, is likely to go anywhere anytime soon.

The strategy is a carrot-and-stick approach: holding out the incentive of statehood on condition of overhauling Palestinian institutions and ending violence against Israel.

“The purpose of these meetings will be to hold discussions and exchange views on a wide range of issues, including Palestinian civil reform efforts, a renewal of security cooperation [and] progress on political dialogue,� State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker said.

But the real issue for the Bush administration is whether the United States and the Palestinians can agree on reforms that will change the Palestinian system enough to limit Arafat’s power or supplant him.

“We want in the end a political system that provides for real separation of powers and no concentration of authority in any one person or position and a legislature that really functions as it should in a democratic order,� said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two of the three leaders coming to Washington are new appointees to the Palestinian Authority Cabinet. Powell has praised both Economy and Trade Minister Maher Masri and Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh as “individuals that seem to be not only asserting authority and trying to work on the transformation, but seem to be acting with authority.�

The administration is also looking to promote Palestinian-Israeli cooperation so that the two sides can test a pilot project in which Israel withdraws troops from a few areas, to be replaced by a new Palestinian security force trained by Egypt and Jordan.

But an end to the wave of Palestinian attacks and suicide bombings is critical to getting that project off the ground. U.S. officials have a “strong message� for the Palestinians that nothing significant can happen until the violence decreases, the administration official added.

The administration is playing down prospects of any breakthroughs or major agreements. This is expected to be the first of several rounds of talks, according to the State Department.

“This is an opportunity to have an exchange of views. We met a couple of weeks ago with a similar delegation from Israel, and now we are meeting with a delegation of Palestinians,� Reeker said.