Palestinians Say Sharon Tries to Derail Washington Talks
Palestinian officials today accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of trying to sabotage their talks in Washington with a tough speech on Thursday in which he called the Palestinian Authority "a gang of corrupt terrorists and assassins."

Lashing back, the Palestinian cabinet secretary, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, called Mr. Sharon's government "a coalition of terror and a gang of killers."

"We can't hold talks with the gang of terrorists that is the Palestinian Authority," Mr. Sharon said. "Rooting them out is the only way to reach peace."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a close adviser to Mr. Arafat, said today that Mr. Sharon's "declarations hamper international efforts to come back to the political process."

"Sharon's declarations are suitable to most Israeli officials who are war criminals and who must face international justice and be tried for the crimes they perpetrated against our people," Mr. Abu Rudeineh said.

Mr. Sharon's speech, Israeli political commentators said, was also meant to enhance his popularity, which has fallen recently.

Throughout the spring he was riding high in opinion polls, mainly because of his tough actions against the Palestinians, including the military incursion into West Bank areas ceded to Palestinian control under the Oslo accords of 1993 and 1995.

But polls published today in the newspaper Yediot Ahronot were headlined "Sharon Does Not Know How to Get Rid of Terrorism."

The numbers were grim. Does Sharon know how to eliminate the attacks? Yes, 36 percent; no, 60 percent. Since the Sharon government took office, who has been winning? Israel, 30 percent; Palestinians, 33 percent; neither, 30 percent. How long will the attacks last? A year, 28 percent; two years or more, 53 percent. Will attacks diminish? Diminish, 16 percent; increase, 67 percent.

"We are condemned to live with the terror attacks for years to come," Sever Plotzker wrote in the newspaper, summing up the poll. "Condemned to bleed and fear."

On the ground here, today was what is now regarded as relatively quiet, with only one death, that of a 40-year-old Palestinian, Husni Damiri, shot by the Israeli Army in the Tulkarm refugee camp.

As usual, accounts varied. Palestinians said he had been standing in his doorway when the Israelis imposed a curfew. The Israeli Army spokesman said soldiers had been shooting at a group of armed men when he was hit.

But nerves remained raw. The Israeli newspapers have been filled for days with speculation that President Saddam Hussein of Iraq might supply Palestinian militants with biological weapons, and there have been articles about whether there is a need for smallpox vaccine.

There were also warnings that gas masks from the Persian Gulf war of 1991 were now obsolete.

A settlers' road south of Jerusalem was shut for several hours today after soldiers fired at what were described as suspicious figures. It was later reported that they were shepherds, carrying crooks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/10/international/middleeast/10MIDE.html