Suleiman, right, after meeting Arafat

Additional reporting by Karim Mahmoud, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, March 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli officials continued talks Friday, March 12, with U.S. envoys on further details of Israeli Premier’s so-called disengagement plan, as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak dispatched his intelligence chief to Washington to discuss ways to revive the Middle East peace process.

In Cairo, , state media reported Friday that talks between U.S. officials and Omar Suleiman, at the forefront of efforts to persuade Palestinian factions to agree to a ceasefire, were "part of Egypt's intense efforts to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process".

Suleiman left for Washington just hours after Cairo promised visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom that it would guarantee security on its border with the Gaza Strip if Israel pulls out of the Palestinian territory, according to government-owned daily Al-Ahram.

On Wednesday, Suleiman met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Egyptian sources has told IslamOnline.net Thursday, March 11 that “Suleiman told Arafat Egypt was ready to deploy some of its security and intelligence units in the Strip to help the embattled Palestinian security forces so that they can better police the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli withdrawal”.

The same sources added that the Egyptian spy chief would seek – during his Washington visit – “clear American guarantees for an Egyptian-Palestinian plan to control security in the Gaza Strip”.

The Egyptian plan, according to the sources, envisages training courses in Cairo for the Palestinian security units or sending in Egyptian experts for the same purpose. The aim is preventing a security vacuum that may be used by “any party” to dominate the Strip.

On Monday night, Suleiman met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss his plan of unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians, which includes a possible evacuation of 17 out of the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Israel Seeks U.S. Backing

Shalom reportedly was assured by Egypt on security in Gaza (AFP)

In Tel Aviv, meanwhile, Israeli officials continued talks with three U.S. envoys to outline further Sharon's plan for a unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians.

The hawkish Prime Minister, meanwhile, saw his popularity rating fall to an all-time low, with a fresh polls showing 57 percent of his fellow citizens are not pleased with him, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns, National Security Council number two Stephen Hadley and its Middle East director, Elliott Abrams, arrived in Israel Thursday to discuss Sharon's plans to withdraw from 17 of 21 Gaza Strip settlements.

Sharon has said he will start implementing his disengagement plan in the next few months if there is no progress in the internationally drafted roadmap for peace with the Palestinians.

The three met Friday morning with Shalom and Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weisglass, U.S. diplomatic sources told AFP without elaborating on the content of the talks.

Shalom has made no secret of his opposition to the disengagement plan and warned that its adoption could lead to far-right parties pulling out of Sharon's coalition and provoking early elections.

The Foreign Minister will travel to Washington next week to discuss the plan with U.S. officials and will also meet with the United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who is in the United States, was slated to resume talks Friday with officials there in a bid to obtain their crucial backing ahead of a possible visit by Sharon.

Washington has insisted that the disengagement plan must be in line with the roadmap and include the West Bank.

“Any such steps, any moves towards disengagement, should be part of a strategic, comprehensive approach that takes into consideration not just Gaza, but the West Bank as well," said Burns deputy David Satterfield Thursday.

The U.S. envoys were also meeting later Friday morning with Palestinian finance minister Salam Fayyad and Saeb Erakat, the Palestinian minister in charge of negotiations, at the U.S. consulate in Arab east Jerusalem, the sources said.

The two Ministers were just back from Paris, where they accompanied Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei on an official visit.

After talks with President Jacques Chirac, Qorei told reporters he would meet with Sharon if an agenda is agreed upon at a preparatory meeting Sunday.

He also said Palestinian security services "will be able to start getting organized and providing security," after Israel's Gaza withdrawal.

Security on Israel's southern border with Egypt once Sharon withdraws from Gaza was the focus of talks Thursday in Cairo between Shalom, his counterpart Ahmed Maher, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Suleiman.

According to AFP, Shalom obtained guarantees that Egypt would ensure security on that border.

Israeli papers speculated Friday on the ever-changing details of Sharon's proposed plan.

Ha’aretz said the Premier was "considering restricting his disengagement plan to Gaza only, without a concomitant withdrawal from the West Bank, in light of the growing opposition to the plan among Likud ministers."

The paper warned, however, that Egypt and the United States would not support the plan "unless it includes it includes a significant withdrawal from the West Bank."

Yedioth Ahronoth said a number of ideas have been raised for the fate of evacuated Gaza settlements. One would be to move what can be moved to Israel and demolish the rest, while another is to transfer them to the Palestinian Authority. A last possibility is to sell them to the World Bank for credit.

Sharon’s Popularity Plummeting

57 percent of Israelis said they were not pleased with Sharon (AFP)

Meanwhile, a Friday poll in the Maariv daily showed that only 33 percent of Israelis are happy with their Prime Minister, marking his lowest rating since he took office in February 2001.

In contrast, 57 percent said they were not pleased with Sharon and the remainder did not express an opinion.

Last week, another poll showed that 53 percent of Israelis would like to see Sharon resign.

Media recently revealed Sharon had business links with the family of Elhanan Tannebaum, a controversial Israeli figure and reserve colonel recently released by the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah in a prisoner exchange.

Sharon's reputation had already been badly tarnished by a series of financial scandals for which he was interrogated by police.