Middle East: In a meeting described by Palestinian officials as "tough", the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, yesterday signalled to his Palestinian counterpart, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, that the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners was contingent on him moving against armed groups.
Mr Sharon also warned that an Israeli withdrawal from more West Bank cities depended on the Palestinians presenting a detailed security plan for these areas.
A statement released by Mr Sharon's office said the meeting was "conducted in a pleasant atmosphere". But a Palestinian legislator, Mr Saeb Erekat, called the meeting "a disappointment", saying he had hoped for concrete results.
The fate of some 6,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails topped the agenda at the two-hour meeting, held at Mr Sharon's Jerusalem residence.
Palestinian officials said Mr Abbas refused to accept a list of prisoners to be freed that had been dictated by Israel, and it was agreed that officials from both sides would meet later in the week to discuss the matter.
Israel has intimated that it is willing to release some 400 prisoners for now, and a ministerial committee set up to deal with the matter is expected to authorise the freeing of this group on Wednesday.
After initially determining that members of the radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad would not go free, Israeli officials said over the weekend that members of the Islamic groups who did not have "blood on their hands" would also be released.
Mr Sharon told the Palestinian delegation that the release of prisoners was politically sensitive for him, especially with many Israelis and many in his government and his ruling Likud party, who view the prisoners as terrorists, opposed to a sweeping amnesty.
"You have to understand that I have a political problem, in my government and in my party, with the release of prisoners," Mr Sharon is said to have told Mr Abbas.
But the Palestinian Prime Minister is under even more pressure than Mr Sharon on the prisoner issue, especially with the Palestinian public, who hail the prisoners as freedom fighters, highly sceptical that he and his government will be able to extract significant concessions from the Israelis.
"Until now they're talking about only 400 prisoners. The Israelis right now can release 3,000 Palestinian prisoners without any serious security issues," said Mr Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian Minister for Security Affairs.
The Israeli Prime Minister said Israel was willing to withdraw from more West Bank cities - so far troops have only pulled out of Bethlehem - once he had received a plan detailing how the Palestinians intended to establish control in these areas.
In a decree issued yesterday by the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, the authority outlawed groups who promote violence and "incitement that encourages the violation of the agreements signed by the PLO and foreign countries." The same decree was issued in 1998.
Mr Sharon said he was aware the Palestinian Authority was making an effort to reduce violence and incitement, but armed groups were exploiting the truce they declared on June 29th to regroup.
He demanded that Mr Abbas "take immediate and definite action to dismantle the terror organisations".
The Palestinians again asked Mr Sharon to lift the travel ban on Mr Arafat, who is confined to Ramallah, but the Israeli leader remained unmoved, arguing that a grounded Mr Arafat was liable to cause less damage.
Immediately after the meeting, Mr Abbas returned to Ramallah where he updated Mr Arafat.
The Palestinian Prime Minister now departs on his first diplomatic mission since taking office, which will include visits to Jordan and Egypt and culminate with a meeting on Friday in Washington with President George Bush.
Mr Sharon will be in the US a few days later, also for talks with the American leader.
Yesterday's meeting in Mr Sharon's Jerusalem office was his fourth with Mr Abbas since the Palestinian Prime Minister assumed the post in April as part of sweeping reforms of the Palestinian Authority demanded by the United States.