Sharon Says U.S. Can Meet Arafat

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed Thursday to permit a U.S. envoy to meet with besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, raising the promise of diplomatic activity after President Bush demanded that Israel halt its weeklong military offensive and pull out of Palestinian territory.

In an attempt to end the escalating violence, Bush said in a speech Thursday that he would send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region next week.

Fighting continued in the West Bank, as Israeli troops took over Nablus, fought intense battles with gunmen barricaded in refugee camps and tightened a cordon around armed Palestinians holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

Earlier this week, Sharon had turned down a request by Powell to grant permission to U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni to hold talks with Arafat. For a week, the Palestinian leader has been confined to a few rooms in his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, and Sharon has said he is determined to keep Arafat isolated.

Sharon changed his mind after meeting with Zinni on Thursday, his office said in a statement issued after Bush's speech.

A senior Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Zinni would try to meet with Arafat on Friday.

With Powell standing at his side in the White House Rose Garden, Bush urged Israel to halt its incursions in the West Bank, launched last Friday after a series of suicide attacks on its citizens. Bush said that "storms of violence cannot go on," but also that the Palestinians must stop the suicide bombings.

Blowing yourself up does not help the Palestinian cause," he said.

Israel's government, which had hoped for more time to complete the operation, had no immediate reaction. Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Sharon, said only, "We have to study it and then we will have a statement."

But Finance Minister Silvan Shalom, an ally of Sharon's, was cautiously welcoming, saying that "if there will be a cease-fire, we'll be happy to pull out."

If they (Palestinians) come and say that they are stopping the fire and are stopping the attacks, there's no reason why we should be inside," Shalom said.

Ahmed Qureia, the speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, said Bush's comments were "new and important" and he praised the U.S. leader for urging an end to the offensive.

"We hope that Secretary Powell will bring with him a mechanism to implement this American vision," he said.

Meanwhile, the violence continued.

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