Palestinian Minister of Finance Salman Fayyad led Palestinian Authority delegation to the London Conference

LONDON, February 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israel lifted a ban on a Palestinian delegation leaving for London to attend talks on pushing forward reforms in the Palestinian Authority according to a peace “road map” envisaging an independent Palestinian state within three years.

Led by Finance Minister Salem Fayyad, the Palestinian delegation is to meet Tuesday, February 18, with the Quartet’s International Task Force on Palestinian Reform which brings together aid honors to the Palestinian Authority.

The London meetings come three days after Palestinian President Yasser Arafat announced that a prime minister will be appointed, a demand voiced by international reformers who considered such a step is important down the road to peace. 

U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw whose country hosted a conference on Palestinian reforms last month hailed Arafat’s decision as “an important part of the Palestinian reform process."

"The key now is for early and concrete action and a clear indication of how powers would be divided." Straw said in a statement.

But Israel and the U.S skeptically slammed Arafat’s commitment to give up his powers, as the would-be prime minister might be just a puppet in his authority. 

Last month, Israel blocked the Palestinian team from leaving the West Bank, forcing the conference organizers in London to set up a video link to Ramallah in order to allow the meeting to go ahead.   

But if Arafat's offer is sincere and the Palestinians adopt new leadership it could be a breakthrough in the search for a political settlement, the BBC Correspondent in Jerusalem said.

Under pressure from Washington, Israel has relented this time and allowed the Palestinians to travel and also decided to send a mid-level delegation of its own, he said, adding that Arafat’s decision was a fruit of international mediators’ pressures.

The British Government affirmed that it would exercise its weight behind a peaceful settlement to the long-standing Middle East crisis.

“We continue to attach great importance to supporting Palestinian reform efforts, for the sake of the Palestinians themselves, and as an important part of the search for comprehensive peace in the region.” Straw said in the statement.

"The meetings to be held in London this week are another step in this direction."

Straw called on Israel to play their part by allowing meetings of the Palestinian Central Council and Legislative Council to go ahead.

Britain and other European states argue that Arafat remains central to a settlement and cannot be entirely excluded.

"He is crucial to selling any solution to the Palestinian people. At the moment he is the only one who can do it," a European diplomat told The Guardian newspaper.

Secret Talks

A private Israeli television claimed that Ariel Sharon met with Fayyad over weekend for ceasefire talks

In a related development, an Israeli private television said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad over the weekend for secret talks on a ceasefire and reform efforts.

The two met at Sharon's residence in west Jerusalem on either Saturday or Sunday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the report as saying, without elaborating on the content of the meeting or whether it dealt with the London conference.

Israeli officials refused to comment on the report, while Palestinian officials said Fayad could not be reached as he was attending the London meetings on Palestinian reforms.

Fayad, who has undertaken serious reforms to counter corruption and secured the transfer of millions of dollars in Palestinian funds frozen by Israel, is perceived as a Palestinian representative with whom Israel can talk, the television report said.

News of renewed high-level contacts between Israeli and Palestinian officials was leaked to the press just over a week ago, with Sharon aides confirming that the prime minister himself was involved.

The leak came as Sharon held a "critical" meeting with Labor party chief Amram Mitzna in a bid to convince him to join a national unity government with the right-wing Likud party.

The Likud party leader favors a broad alliance with Labor but Mitzna, who advocates a resumption of talks with the Palestinians and an evacuation of the Gaza Strip, has consistently refused.

However, news of further talks with the Palestinians was likely to increase pressure on Labour to join the coalition.

Sharon and Mitzna said after the meeting they had made "certain progress", the media reported, adding that more talks would be held.

Israeli occupation forces arrested ten members of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group in Yamun village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.