Amid Talks and Violence, Sharon and Arafat Trade Accusations
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he did not believe Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's government would take action to prevent Palestinian attacks against Israel.

``Arafat is the head of terrorism and no one is counting on him,'' Sharon told a Cabinet meeting, according to Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar.

Arafat said he did not think Sharon's government was serious about peace negotiations.

``This government is looking only for more escalation for its military plans. They are not looking to achieve peace,'' Arafat said at his mostly destroyed compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II delivered one of his most forceful denunciations of Middle East violence, lamenting that Palestinians were subjected to ``collective punishment'' and Israelis were gripped by fear.

``When will one learn that coexistence between the Israeli and Palestinian people cannot result from arms? Neither attacks, nor walls of separation, nor retaliation will ever lead to a just solution of the conflict under way,'' John Paul said Sunday at his summer palace in Castel Gandolfo, a hill town near Rome.

The Israel-Palestinian talks, since stalled, had focused on Israeli forces leaving Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip. If calm prevailed, Israel then would examine withdrawing from parts of the West Bank, where troops are in most Palestinian cities and towns.

Sharon called the Palestinian proposals for an Israeli withdrawal ``a trick designed to coincide with the talks between Palestinian officials and U.S. leaders.''

A Palestinian delegation was in Washington last week for discussions with senior Bush administration officials on stabilizing the region and reforming the Palestinian security forces.

Arafat said he was encouraged by the Washington discussions, which included the highest-level meetings between U.S. and Palestinian officials in recent months.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html