ARABS-ISRAEL - June 14 - PA Officials Question Bush's Move.

PA officials react with concern to reports that Washington might call for creating an interim Palestinian state, while leaving uncertain the state's final borders and the timetable for achieving them. PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat warns that the step might only increase Palestinian frustration if it is not accompanied by a specific timeline for achieving a state in the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip. He says: "If we deviate from this to go to the psychology of thinking that the Palestinian problems and the frustration is because they want to change the name from a Palestinian Authority to a Palestinian state, I'm afraid that this will backfire". He says if Palestinians find, the day after such a state is declared, that Israeli forces still control checkpoints between Palestinian cities, "I'm afraid that you're going to have a bigger explosion than you're having now". (PM Sharon has said he adamantly opposes agreements based on timelines, arguing that they should be driven instead by measurable, benchmark achievements. PA officials fear that that approach would permit Israel to postpone indefinitely territorial concessions). With the US administration exploring new diplomatic options, Israeli FM Shimon Peres said he had resumed his contacts with PA leaders, with Sharon's permission. Calling these contacts "just initial probes", he said in an interview with Israel radio that he was not speaking to Arafat. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to raid PA-controlled territories. Before dawn, the Army entered Hebron, arresting 3 Palestinian militants. Israeli troops arrested three more Palestinians during an incursion into the village of Bir Zeit, near Ramallah. The Israeli government reported that its forces had found a powerful bomb in the town of Qalqilya.