Military

DATE=03/16/2005

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= ISRAEL PALESTINIANS L

NUMBER=2-323278

BYLINE= LARRY JAMES

DATELINE= JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Palestinians Take over Jericho

INTRO: Israel has returned Jericho to Palestinian security control -- a confidence-building measure aimed at getting peace talks back on track. VOAs Larry James reports

from Jerusalem that Jericho is the first of several West Bank cities to be handed

over.

TEXT: The handover was agreed in principle, last week, but the exchange was delayed by disagreement over the dismantling of Israeli checkpoints.

In a compromise, Israel dismantled one barrier, Wednesday, but two others are to remain in place for another month. Jericho is the first of five towns to be handed to the

Palestinians, under terms of an agreement reached at a meeting between

Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Egypt, last month.

Jericho sits some 300 meters below sea level in the Jordan River valley, just a few

kilometers from the Dead Sea. It has been a quiet place and rarely figured in the

Israeli-Palestinian violence of the past four-and-a-half years.

Israeli travel restrictions have severely hampered daily life in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, during this time. Palestinian officials hope the removal of barriers and the return of Palestinian security forces to the streets will send a positive message to ordinary Palestinians that an informal truce with Israel is beginning to pay off.

Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned the Palestinians against releasing

militants jailed in Jericho, including Ahmed Saadat, who Israel says ordered the

assassination of a government minister in 2001.

The West Bank town,Tulkarem, is next on the list to be returned to Palestinian control,

to be followed by nearby Qalqiliya. No date has been set for the handover of the

remaining two -- Bethlehem and Ramallah.

The largest Palestinian city, Nablus, is not on the list. Neither are Hebron and Jenin.

Israel considers the three to be centers of militant activity and the source of most of

the suicide bombers and others who have attacked Israel.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is in Cairo for talks with militant

leaders on a proposed a one-year stop to attacks on Israeli targets.

Some Palestinian militants are demanding Israel release prisoners and stop targeted

killings of militant leaders, in exchange for their promise of a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says a temporary halt in attacks is not enough to

resume peace negotiations. He says the Palestinian leadership must also dismantle the

militant groups. (Signed)

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