Israeli troops take over one West Bank town, begin leaving another

<br>JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israel took over the Palestinian town of Jenin on Friday in one of the largest raids in months _ a delayed response to a deadly bus bombing _ but pulled some troops out of another

Friday, October 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israel took over the Palestinian town of Jenin on Friday in one of the largest raids in months _ a delayed response to a deadly bus bombing _ but pulled some troops out of another West Bank town.

The Jenin raid and the redeployment in Hebron came as Assistant Secretary of State William Burns wrapped up talks with skeptical Israelis and Palestinians on a new Mideast peace plan that envisions a provisional Palestinian state by 2003 and full independence by 2005.

In a very public snub of Yasser Arafat, Burns held talks with a Palestinian legislator Friday only a few yards from the Palestinian leader's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The United States has been boycotting Arafat, saying he has broken promises to rein in militants.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called Jenin a ``capital of terror,'' saying ``we don't have a choice but to go in and try to clean up what it's possible to clean up.''

Two teenage Jenin residents, members of the militant Islamic Jihad group, blew up an Israeli bus on Monday, killing themselves and 14 Israelis.

An Israeli army commander, briefing reporters near Jenin, said soldiers were looking for about 20 Palestinian militants. ``We intend to cover the entire city, imposing a curfew, conducting searches and setting up stakeouts to get the terrorists,'' he said on condition of anonymity.

The officer noted that Monday's bombers managed to leave Jenin and reach Israel after Israeli troops eased restrictions in the area. He said the bombing apparently ``encouraged the terrorist cell in Jenin, which is now rearming and winning new recruits.''

Arafat called the incursion a ``crime,'' and his aides said the United States must put a stop to such strikes if it wants to be a credible mediator.

Residents said the incursion began before dawn when hundreds of soldiers, backed by tanks, entered Jenin and the adjacent refugee camp, imposed a curfew and took over more than 30 buildings.

In the refugee camp, scene of a bloody weeklong battle in April, local gunmen, some in their teens, exchanged fire with troops. Two armed men, ages 16 and 18, were seriously wounded, doctors said. In downtown Jenin, dozens of young Palestinians threw stones at soldiers, drawing army fire that seriously wounded an 18-year-old. Two more Palestinians were lightly hurt.

Jenin resident Fadwa Fayed, 24, said 40 tenants of her five-story apartment building were confined by troops to two windowless rooms on the ground floor, with army guards posted outside. Soldiers took over the upper floors, said Fayed, speaking by cell phone.

It was one of the largest Israeli military operations in the West Bank since Israeli forces entered most West Bank towns, including Hebron, in June following a series of suicide bomb attacks.

On Friday, a convoy of seven army jeeps drove out of the Palestinian sector of divided Hebron, but an Israeli commander said forces would stay in three neighborhoods from which Palestinian gunmen have frequently attacked Jewish settlers in the center of town.

The departing soldiers threw Arabic leaflets at bystanders. The leaflets said life would return to normal, provided there were no attacks on Israelis.

Troops will remain in the Israeli-controlled sector in downtown Hebron, where about 500 Jewish settlers live in heavily fortified enclaves. Israel had held on to that area even after troops left most of Hebron in 1997.

The U.S. envoy, meanwhile, held more talks Friday with Palestinians, including legislator Hanan Ashrawi, on the peace plan by the so-called ``Quartet'' _ the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

Both sides have expressed reservations. The Palestinians balked at the plan's failure to include presidential elections _ seen as a way of sidelining Arafat _ while Israel said its security concerns were not adequately addressed.

Arafat said Friday he was still studying the peace plan and that he will consult with Arab leaders before making a final comment.

Ashrawi, who was meeting with Burns at her home, just opposite Arafat's headquarters, said she told the envoy that it was essential to hold presidential, and not only parliamentary elections in the coming months, and that the Palestinians must be left to run their own affairs.

Burns said that in talks with Palestinian officials, he emphasized President Bush's commitment ``to do everything we can to produce the two-state vision he's talked about.''

On Thursday, Burns told the Palestinians they would have to take decisive action against militants and get serious about internal reform if they want to embark on the road to statehood.