RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan 31 (AFP) - Former Palestinian security minister Mohammed Dahlan meet Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz Monday for talks on the planned transfer of security control in several West Bank towns, a senior Palestinian official told AFP.
"The meeting has started," the official said on condition of anonymity.
As well as discussing the proposed pullback from four West Bank towns, Dahlan was also expected to discuss a halt to Israeli military operations in the West Bank, including arrests and so-called targeted killings of militants.
The two men were meeting in a hotel in the coastal city of Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv, following a first round of talks on Saturday.
The talks took on new importance following a threat from Palestinian militant groups in Gaza to resume anti-Israeli attacks following the army's killing of a 10-year-old girl in a UN-run school.
The bloodshed drew an immediate response from the radical Hamas movement, which fired a salvo of seven mortars at two nearby Jewish settlements.
At the outset of the meeting, Mofaz demanded that Dahlan ensure the Palestinian Authority take immediate action to stop the ongoing firing of mortar shells and Qassam rockets, army radio reported, citing a senior defence source.
Commenting on the transfer of security control in the West Bank, the source said it was likely to be take place in stages.
A Palestinian official told AFP earlier that the West Bank redeployment was expected to start on Tuesday, provided the two sides made progress in the latest Dahlan-Mofaz talks.
"If we reach agreement tonight with the Israeli defence minister, we expect that the army will withdraw from the four cities tomorrow," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The affected towns were expected to be Ramallah, Jericho, Tulkarem and Qalqilya, the official said. Dahlan was expected to ask that the flashpoint northern town of Jenin be added to the list.
01/31/2005 20:19 GMT - AFP