By
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Ariel Sharon has expressed regret over an incident in which Israeli soldiers fired at a convoy carrying Gaza security commanders home after a meeting with Israeli officials. A Palestinian leader rejected the statement and demanded an apology.
The Israeli prime minister's gesture, which his office announced yesterday, came in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell. The office did not release the letter and said Sharon had no intention of apologizing.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian was found dead yesterday, apparently caught in the cross fire of an overnight exchange, and a 2-year-old was in critical condition after being shot Sunday as a near-daily barrage of fire and mortar attacks continued.
Security chiefs from the two sides were to meet late yesterday on the Palestinian side of a checkpoint between Gaza and Israel, said Bassam Abu Sharif, an aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
However, other Palestinian officials said no meeting would take place before Sharon apologizes. "This is not an apology," said Gaza security chief Amin al-Hindi, adding that there would be no meeting last night.
Powell had persuaded the two sides to meet Wednesday for the first time in weeks. Afterward, Israeli soldiers fired on the convoy carrying the Gaza officials home, wounding a bodyguard. Two others were injured when their vehicle overturned.
Sharon did not repeat the contention that the Palestinians opened fire first, but a military statement yesterday summing up the army's own inquiry said the Palestinians opened fire twice, drawing return Israeli fire.
The military report said its soldiers acted according to the rules, adding, "the Israeli army spokesman categorically denies Palestinian claims that the soldiers intended to hit the officials."
Coordination of security actions was the linchpin of efforts to stop Palestinian attacks against Israel, but with the outbreak of hostilities last September, cooperation all but halted.
Since the violence erupted on Sept. 28, 462 people have been killed, including 379 Palestinians, 64 Israeli Jews and 19 others.
Yesterday, the body of Tayseer el-Omolee, 45, was found near a road where Palestinians and Israeli forces exchanged fire. The Israeli military said soldiers thought he was planting a bomb.
A 2-year-old Palestinian girl, Amani Ghneim, was in critical condition after being shot Sunday when Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets at rock-throwers near Bethlehem, Palestinian doctors said.
Israel claims that Arafat's security services are involved in attacks against Israelis. The latest charge came from Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, who said yesterday that it was a mistake to arm the Palestinian police. "Police there are former terrorists, (and) are still terrorists," he told reporters in Jerusalem.
Three mortar bombs, fired from Palestinian territory, fell last night near the Israeli army checkpoint at Erez, on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. A fourth mortar round exploded in Atzmona, a Jewish settlement in Gaza. No one was hurt in either incident. A mortar blast at Atzmona on April 3 critically wounded a baby.
On Sunday, Israel retaliated for almost daily mortar attacks by hitting three buildings in Beit Lahiya, a town north of Gaza City, where the Israelis said the mortar fire originated. Palestinians said Israel fired surface-to-surface missiles, another benchmark in Israel's escalating response.
Palestinian police yesterday arrested 20 suspected collaborators in the town of Qalqilya and are interrogating them about Israeli plans, Palestinian security officials said on condition of anonymity.
The family of Yusuf Samir, 63, a journalist who fled Egypt in 1968 and moved to Israel, said he was arrested in Bethlehem last week on suspicion of collaborating with Israel. Palestinian security officials refused to comment. Samir's daughter, Haya, a well-known singer, told Israel television yesterday that she is concerned for her father's safety.
