Israeli troops leave Jenin, but remain on outskirts of West Bank town

<br>JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israeli troops withdrew Friday from Jenin, a stronghold for militants, after digging a six-foot trench around part of the West Bank town to keep would-be bombers from slipping out

Friday, October 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israeli troops withdrew Friday from Jenin, a stronghold for militants, after digging a six-foot trench around part of the West Bank town to keep would-be bombers from slipping out in cars.

Since rolling into seven Palestinian cities and towns in June, Israeli forces have now pulled back to the outskirts of Jenin and Bethlehem, but remain in the other five.

Israel has defended the tough security measures, pointing to the reduction in suicide bombings. But Palestinians complain that hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been confined to their homes for most of the past four months.

Jenin's governor, Khaider Irshaid, said the Israeli military informed him the curfew would no longer be enforced in Jenin. The troops, who have regularly patrolled the streets in tanks and armored personnel carriers, have left, but remain on the outskirts. Soldiers still control all main roads and few Palestinians will be allowed to leave the city.

The troops could return at any time, Irshaid said.

The army dug a deep trench around parts of the city so cars may not leave over back roads or by traveling through fields.

On Friday evening, the army said it had arrested a wanted Palestinian who was stopped in a taxi in a village just west of Jenin but did not disclose his name. Another man riding with him escaped and authorities found two automatic rifles in the cab, the military said.

Jenin, in the northern West Bank, was the launching pad for many of the suicide bombings against Israel and was the site of a fierce battle between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in April.

Israel has come under international criticism for the sweeping restrictions that have made normal life virtually impossible in the main Palestinian cities of the West Bank. But Israel says it will only ease restrictions when it believes the threat of attacks has dropped substantially.

The military curfew has been eased recently in cities where troops remain, and is often lifted during daylight hours to allow people to work, shop and go to school.

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, sent Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a strongly worded letter last weekend that called for giving the Palestinians greater freedom of movement.

However, President Bush, who hosted Sharon at the White House on Wednesday, made no reference to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian cities.

Sharon returned to Israel early Friday, while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns was on a regional tour to look for ways to end the two years of fighting.

Burns will be in Israel next week, but has no plans to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, U.S. officials said. The U.S. and Israeli governments say Arafat's Palestinian Authority has failed to stop terror attacks against Israel.

Burns met Thursday in Paris with Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath. The U.S. diplomat presented a plan that calls for creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and convening an international peace conference next year, Shaath said.

Sharon told Israel's Army Radio that he hadn't yet read the U.S. proposal and would discuss it with Burns next week.

In other developments Friday, a Palestinian militant who attacked Israeli soldiers with grenades and an automatic rifle was killed by the troops near the Jewish settlement of Dugit in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said. Two soldiers were lightly hurt, the military added.

The attack came after six Palestinians were killed Thursday in the Gaza town of Rafah during a clash between armed Palestinians and Israeli soldiers near the border with Egypt.

Palestinians said all six were civilians, including two children and two women, killed when tank shells slammed into a crowded part of the Rafah refugee camp. The Israeli military said soldiers returned fire toward militants who fired rockets before taking cover in the camp. Israel expressed regret for the civilian casualties but blamed the militants for operating in a densely populated area.

About 10,000 Palestinians joined a funeral procession Friday, chanting ``revenge, revenge.'' Organizers banned militants from firing weapons in the air, to avoid a possible confrontation with Israeli troops.