Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Monday that the Palestinians would resume security meetings with Israel, mediated by the United States.
"That was a request from our friend the European Union and our friend Javier Solana and I couldn't say no to that," Arafat said after meeting the European Union foreign policy chief in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
The Palestinians suspended security talks with Israel on Sunday after the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced it would keep Arafat confined to Ramallah.
"We are committed to the peace of the brave," Arafat told reporters.
"We are facing a very serious situation (of) military escalation against our people," Arafat said after asking the Europeans to send observers to the Palestinian territories.
Solana had earlier said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres that Arafat should have "total freedom of movement" as soon as possible.
"I don't think it is a wise decision to give him half movement," he said, after the Israeli cabinet's decision on Sunday to ease but not lift the blockade imposed on Arafat since early December.
"He has to have full freedom -- it is important for him to do his job, from my point of view," Solana told reporters. "The sooner he has freedom of movement, the better."
Israel has said the decision to allow Arafat to leave his compound but not Ramallah was a goodwill gesture, although it angered the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli tanks pulled out of the area around Arafat's compound in Ramallah early Monday, but the Palestinians nonetheless suspended security talks with the Jewish state aimed at stemming violence.
Solana arrived in Israel late Sunday to start a five-day tour of the Middle East in a bid to ease the tension and violence in the region. His visit will take in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Jordan.
Arafat has been kept pinned down in Ramallah until he arrests and brings to justice those responsible for October's assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi.
Violence resurged Monday with two Palestinians and two Israelis shot dead in the West Bank, while another Palestinian man was shot dead in a northeast Jerusalem shooting attack which seriously wounded six Israelis, including three policemen.
(China Daily February 26, 2002)
