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Quartet to discuss Israeli military pulloutsPalestinian sources: Hamas leader killed in Hebron
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- When the Mideast Quartet meets Sunday in Jordan, the group's first priority will be to negotiate a transfer of military power over Gaza and Bethlehem, in the West Bank, to the Palestinian Authority, a U.N. envoy to the group said Saturday . "The attempt now is to produce an agreement as a first step, where the Israelis will withdraw from Gaza and Bethlehem militarily," U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told CNN. "There are some hurdles which still have to be resolved." As the meeting approached, violence continued in the region. Palestinian security sources told CNN that Israeli troops shot and killed Hebron's senior Hamas leader Saturday. The sources identified the dead man as Abdullah Kawasme, who was on Israel's most-wanted list. Israeli security sources confirmed to CNN that an "armed Palestinian" was shot and killed during an "arrest operation" in Hebron. The identity of the person killed was not confirmed by the Israeli sources. (Full story) Meanwhile, Roed-Larsen stressed that there should be no illusions about the difficulty of moving forward with the "road map" to Middle East peace, officially launched this month. However, he praised the presence of top-level U.S. leaders in the region, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and President George W. Bush's Mideast envoy, Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf. "What is important now is that there's a strong American presence on the ground working every day with the parties supported by the Quartet," he said. Roed-Larsen and his Quartet counterparts from the United States, the European Union and Russia plan to discuss the progress of the road map Sunday. Powell met Friday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders ahead of the talks, on his way to the World Economic Forum in Jordan. Syria, which often boycotts meetings that Israel attends, also sent a delegation to the forum, even though an Israeli delegation was expected to be there. (Full story) Powell said talks that would lead to a transfer of security control in the West Bank town of Bethlehem and in parts of Gaza from Israel to the Palestinian Authority would be "a very powerful and important first step" toward stemming the violence that has killed dozens of people in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza since the summit in Aqaba, Jordan, this month. At the summit, Mideast leaders had made agreements to begin implementing the road map. Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr said Saturday "we are ready to take over all the territories from which the Israelis will withdraw." Powell stressed that the Palestinian Authority must take strong steps to rein in Hamas, which he described as "an enemy of peace." The military wing of Hamas has claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets. The United States and Israel consider the group a terrorist organization. Despite "whatever charitable or other social good these organizations may perform, as long as they have ... a commitment to terror and violence and a desire to destroy the state of Israel, I think this is a problem we have to deal with in its entirety," Powell said Friday at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has been pursuing a cease-fire with Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. The idea of giving the militant groups representation in the Palestinian Authority has been floated as an enticement to get them to agree to a cease-fire. Roed-Larsen said if Hamas "agrees to become a political party," renounces terror and "disarms so that the P.A. has a monopoly on the control of any kind of weapons, I can see no reason that Hamas should not be a part of the Palestinian political community."
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