The Middle East: In a power play meant to indicate he was still the shaper of Palestinian policy, Yasser Arafat yesterday engineered the postponement of a meeting scheduled for today between the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, and his Palestinian counterpart, Mr Mahmoud Abbas.
The meeting was meant to precede a possible Sharon-Abbas-Bush summit next week.
Mr Sharon, meanwhile, appeared to be backtracking from far-reaching political statements he has made in recent days, suggesting yesterday that his use of the phrase "the occupation" - a highly-charged term in Israel akin to blasphemy on the right - had been misunderstood.
Initially, the Palestinians cited a scheduling clash as the reason for putting off the Sharon-Abbas meeting. But it soon emerged Mr Arafat was insisting that Palestinian policy in talks with Israel first be discussed by the PLO executive.
Israeli officials accused the Palestinian leader of trying to undermine efforts to restart the peace process. "As long as Arafat is still there, it is clear that no agreement can be reached," the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Silvan Shalom, said.
One Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the postponement was a message by Mr Arafat to Mr Abbas - and to the US and Israel - that he is still the ultimate decision-maker in talks with Israel. Palestinian officials suggested the meeting could take place tomorrow.
Violence continued on the ground, with a 16-year-old Palestinian boy shot and killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops, who said he was throwing a firebomb. Palestinian doctors said two children, aged seven and nine, were critically injured in clashes with troops.
After sounding like a dyed-in-the-wool peacenik on Monday, when he said Israel had to end its "occupation" of 3.5 million Palestinians, Mr Sharon, who was criticised by right-wing leaders, yesterday backtracked.
Addressing the parliament's Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, he exchanged the word "occupation" - some politicians suggested he had used the term in a bid to curry favour with Washington - with the much more neutral phrase, "territories that are under dispute". Mr. Sharon was indicating that an end to "occupation", in his terms, did not mean he was willing to pull Israeli forces out of all of the occupied territories. He believes that retaining parts of the West Bank is vital for Israel's security.
The prime minister also told the committee he had reached an understanding with the US administration regarding the manner in which settlements and illegal settlement outposts will be treated within the framework of the road map peace plan, but refused to provide details.
Efforts to organise twin Mideast summits continued yesterday, with Jordanian officials saying President Bush would attend two summits in the region next week, one with Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, and another with Mr Sharon and Mr Abbas in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba.