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Israel, PLO sign accord on transfer of authority

CAIRO: Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation signed an agreement on Sunday transferring a wide range of administrative powers to Palestinians in the West Bank, witnesses said.

The accord, part of a deal to expand Palestinian autonomy from Gaza to the West Bank, was signed by PLO negotiator Jamil Tarifi and by Israel's General Oren Shahor.

"Today we signed the agreement to transfer eight additional spheres to the Palestinian Authority," Shahor told journalists at the signing ceremony. "The agreement will be fully implemented during the coming weeks".

The two men shook hands after putting their signatures to the 23-page agreement, which covers the transfer of labour, trade and industry, gas and petrol, insurance, postal services, statistics, agriculture and local government.

Israel and the PLO are due to continue discussing the transfer of authorities in some 32 other spheres to give Palestinians the kind of control they have enjoyed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho since last year.

The two sides are believed to be several weeks away from full agreement on implementing the second stage of the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli self-rule accord -- an Israeli troop redeployment in the occupied West Bank and the holding of Palestinian elections.

They are still struggling to resolve differences over issues such as control of the city of Hebron and participation of Palestinians in Jerusalem in planned Palestinian elections.

"As we are signing here the protocol agreement there are extensive negotiations with the Israeli authorities in Eilat to reach an agreement on the interim period," Tarifi said.

"We hope we will reach an agreement soon so as to end all the tragedies and the bloodletting the region has witnessed."

The agreement was signed in Cairo's Diplomatic Club and was witnessed by ambassadors from the United States, Russia, Egypt, Norway and the two signatory parties.

Egyptian foreign ministry official Badr Hammam represented Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, who is on a foreign trip.-Reuter