- RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)
-- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will would
give equipment and training to Palestinian security forces, and he offered
to help rebuild the Palestinians' crumbling infrastructure in the Gaza
Strip, which Israel is leaving this summer.
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- Mr. Putin met for about two hours with Palestinian president
Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on the third day of his
historic visit to the region. The two leaders focused on the Middle East
peace process and aid from the Russians to the Palestinians.
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- Mr. Putin was greeted Friday morning at the Palestinian
headquarters, known as the muqata, by an honour guard of Palestinian security
forces. A military band played Russia's national anthem and the Palestinian
anthem as Mr. Putin and Mr. Abbas stood side by side.
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- Security officers then placed a wreath, with a banner
reading "from the president of the Russian Federation," before
the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Mr. Putin approached,
bowed his head, stood silently at attention for a few seconds, bowed again
and walked away.
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- The Palestinians and Moscow have a long history of political
and cultural co-operation dating to the Cold War, when the Soviet Union
backed Arab states and the Palestinians in their fight against the U.S.-backed
Israelis.
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- About 15,000 Palestinians ñ including Mr. Abbas
ñ studied in Russian universities. In recent years, however, Russian
ties with Israel have warmed. Mr. Putin's trip to the region was seen as
an effort to burnish Russia's credentials as a key Mideast mediator and
a player on the world stage.
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- The Russian President told a joint news conference that
he would provide the Palestinians, whose infrastructure was badly damaged
in more than four years of fighting with the Israelis, with helicopters
and training for their security services.
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- "We will provide the Palestinian leadership with
technical help, supplies of equipment and training," Mr. Putin said.
"We want the co-operation to be completely open and not cause concern
on the Israeli side, and we will resolve this together."
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- The helicopters would be used to transport Mr. Abbas.
Israel destroyed the Palestinian Authority's presidential helicopters as
part of its campaign to limit the movement of Mr. Arafat.
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- Mr. Putin had also been expected to offer the Palestinian
police 50 armoured patrol vehicles, but Israel had objected, leaving the
plan in limbo.
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- "If we expect chairman Abbas to fight terrorism
effectively, he can't do it with slingshots and stones. We must understand
this," Mr. Putin said.
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- The Israelis question the Palestinians' need for such
vehicles and insist that Mr. Abbas disarm Palestinian wanted men.
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- Russia had also offered to help rebuild the Palestinian
infrastructure in Gaza. Israel plans to pull out of the impoverished coastal
strip this summer, and Palestinian efforts to maintain order there will
be viewed by many as a test case for their handling of a future state.
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- Mr. Putin's meeting with Mr. Abbas followed talks Thursday
with Israeli leaders, where he discussed Russia's co-operation with Syria
and Iran ñ two of Israel's bitterest enemies ñ and the growing
problem of anti-Semitism in Russia.
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- A day after soothing his Israeli hosts with a stern call
for Iran to do more to show it is not building an atomic bomb, Mr. Putin
reiterated in Ramallah that Russia has no intention of halting its nuclear-related
co-operation with Tehran. He said, however, that his country remains committed
to nuclear nonproliferation.
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- Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Iran, and
Israeli officials have expressed concern to Mr. Putin that Tehran would
use the technology to further its nuclear weapons program. Mr. Putin said
the nuclear components did not threaten Israel's security.
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- "We intend to continue in all our programs with
Iran, because we believe such programs have peaceful ends," he said
Friday.
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- On Thursday, he also defended a deal to sell anti-aircraft
missiles to Syria, a plan that has clouded improving Russian-Israeli relations
and has loomed over the historic visit.
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- Mr. Putin arrived in the region promoting a fall Mideast
peace conference in Moscow, and Palestinians responded enthusiastically,
but the idea dropped off the table during Wednesday's talks in Jerusalem
after Israel and the U.S. expressed reservations.
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- Mr. Putin said Friday he is still committed to an international
gathering, adding that it would be not a summit but a meeting of high-level
experts.
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- Russia is one of the four co-sponsors, along with the
United States, the UN and the European Union, of the so-called road map
to peace, a plan to end violence in the region.
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