MIDDLE EAST: The Palestinian Prime Minister-designate, anxious to boost his legitimacy among his own people, has promised not to go abroad for any official meetings until Israel lifts the travel ban it imposed on the Palestinian Authority President more than a year ago, writes Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem
"I will not leave the country and I will not visit anywhere until the siege imposed on President \ Arafat has been lifted and before he enjoys full freedom to move within the West Bank and Gaza and outside, without any obstacles to his return," said Mr Mahmoud Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen.
That condition could soon be put to the test. President Bush, who has demonstratively refused to meet Mr Arafat, said over the weekend he planned to invite Abu Mazen to the White House once he and his new government have been sworn in.
That deadline is Wednesday - when the Palestinian Legislative Council must vote on the new cabinet.
Abu Mazen, however, is facing opposition within the 88-member council, with 30 members loyal to Mr Arafat threatening to oppose the new cabinet.
Israel has effectively confined Mr Arafat to the West Bank city of Ramallah since late 2001, when it imposed a travel ban on him in retaliation for a spate of suicide attacks.
Israeli officials have since said he is free to travel, but that they cannot guarantee he will be allowed to return.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, however, did yesterday soften his position on foreign diplomats visiting the isolated Mr Arafat. Israel, he decided, would not boycott foreign ministers who met him while also visiting the Jewish state. However, a source close to the prime minister said foreign diplomats who met the Palestinian leader would probably find the prime minister had difficulty squeezing them into his "busy" schedule.
In a measure apparently aimed at pleasing Washington, the Defence Minister, Mr Shaul Mofaz, has decided to dismantle several settlement outposts constructed without government permission in the West Bank. The first one, near the West Bank city of Hebron, was scheduled to be taken down late last night.
Israeli officials however said the government was not prepared to implement any confidence-building measures until Abu Mazen proved he was willing to take steps to tame militant groups.
AFP adds: An Israeli woman was slightly injured yesterday when her car was fired at by Palestinian gunmen near the town of Nablus on the West Bank, according to an Israeli military source. The attack was claimed by the Palestinian militant group, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
Elsewhere Israeli army bulldozers levelled an agricultural plot of about 20 acres east of Khan Yunes in the Gaza strip, according to residents in the area.