GAZA CITY, Nov 5 (AFP) - Palestinian officials and leaders from armed factions closed ranks Friday in a bid to ensure security and keep a lid on any instability should Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat die in a French hospital.
The main factions convened a rare meeting in Gaza City ahead of talks with prime minister Ahmed Qorei, scheduled for Saturday, while the security forces were on high alert throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We will do our best to uphold (Palestinian unity) and veer away from internal conflict. This is a historic time and we should work through it united," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said after the three-hour session.
"The priority is to maintain Palestinian unity, control the situation and press on with the intifada," said Khalid el-Batsh, a leader of the rival militant group Islamic Jihad.
"There is no place for a ceasefire in the coming period," he added.
Members of Arafat's Fatah faction and the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also attended the meeting.
Earlier, a Fatah spokesman said it was "very important during this critical phase to have a serious national dialogue".
A PFLP representative said an overall leadership was vital for unity and criticised the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) for failing to share responsibilities.
"Most Palestinian factions, if not all, agree on having a Palestinian leadership ... The PLO does not grant partnership to the factions or allow them to participate in decision-making," said Kayed al-Ghoul.
Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath said Qorei would meet with representatives of the armed factions on Saturday to discuss the security situation in view of Arafat's health crisis.
Friday's meeting came as Arafat remained in a coma at a hospital outside Paris, with the Palestinian envoy to France, Leila Shahid, denying reports from medical sources that the ailing 75-year-old was brain dead.
Earlier, a high-level Palestinian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity that security services would work with the factions to make sure the situation did not unravel in the territories.
"There is a high degree of cooperation between the different factions and the Palestinian security services aimed at controlling the situation and ensuring that order reigns," the official said.
"All parties are determined to live in peace during the period following president Arafat's expected death," he said, noting that new agreements had been reached but contacts were ongoing.
"The situation in Gaza is stable and all indications show that there has not been any violation of security in the region."
He ruled out any Israeli military operation following an announcement of Arafat's death.
"We do not think that Israel will take advantage of an event such as the death of president Arafat to launch a wide-scale offensive against the Palestinian territories," he said.
Israel imposed a clampdown on the West Bank on Friday and increased security around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid fears of an outbreak of unrest in the event of Arafat's death.
In Gaza, the Palestinian security official said he expected a "complete lockdown of the Palestinian territories following the announcement of president Arafat's death".
But he added that Israel "will try not to intervene and to maintain the status quo, until the position of the Palestinian administration is made clear and a new leader is chosen".
"In the event of any (Palestinian) attacks during this waiting period, I think that the Israeli response will be contained and moderate," he predicted.
11/05/2004 15:47 GMT - AFP