
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, December 13, 1993                   TAG: 9312130120
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: GAZA CITY, ISRAELI-OCCUPIED GAZA STRIP                                LENGTH: Medium

ISRAEL DELAYS GAZA WITHDRAWAL

In a crushing blow to the embryonic Palestine peace plan, Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Sunday indefinitely postponed today's scheduled start of an Israeli military evacuation from the occupied territories.

At the earliest, the withdrawal could begin in 10 days, when the two former enemies next meet, Rabin told reporters in Cairo, Egypt, after a two-hour session ended in stalemate.

Meantime, he said, lower-level negotiators would seek to "define much more clearly the vital interests to Israeli security and vital interest to the Palestinians."

Word of the delay came to Gaza after the start of the nightly 8 o'clock curfew, so most Palestinians were already at home and the streets were quiet, but a surge in unrest is certain. A cross-section of Palestinians living in Gaza, interviewed after the delay was announced, expressed only bitterness and resentment.

Some Arafat supporters had been restrained recently from clashing with Israeli troops, to show their support for the coming withdrawal. Radical Muslim opponents and rogue members of Arafat's Fatah movement had already stepped up their attacks to show their dissatisfaction with the peace plan.

Israel Radio reported throughout the day Sunday that up to 1,200 Palestinians held in Israeli jails would be released around midnight, with the start of the withdrawal as part of the negotiated agreement between the PLO and Israel.

It was uncertain Sunday night whether Israel would go through with the release.

The delay came as a blow to both sides.

Israeli officials in recent days had said Rabin was keen to start with at least a symbolic withdrawal Monday to bolster support for Arafat, his former enemy.

Arafat's popularity among Palestinians had waned weeks for several reasons: general disarray and poor preparation for the coming autonomy, infighting in his Fatah faction over key administrative positions, and a series of killings of Palestinians by Israeli army hit squads and Jewish settlers.

By an Associated Press count, 41 Arabs and 14 Israelis have been killed since Arafat and Rabin sealed their agreement on Palestinian autonomy with a handshake at the White House on Sept. 13.

As a result, both Palestinian and Israeli sources estinmate, grass-roots support has increased for the radical Islamic movements.

by CNB