Israel says it is willing to co-ordinate a planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip if the Palestinian Authority cracks down on militant groups, an Israeli official said yesterday.

The remarks were the first indication that Israel was reassessing its policy on the evacuation plan, which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had insisted prior to Yasser Arafat's death last week be "unilateral."

Israel is currently waiting to see what new Palestinian leadership emerges and to see if they will fulfill their commitments under the US-backed "road map" peace plan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

If the Palestinians work to help end four years of fighting, Israel would be willing to work out the details with them on Sharon's so-called "disengagement plan" to pull troops and 8,800 Jewish settlers out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements.

"If the Palestinian Authority takes its commitments seriously under the road map then many things that were not possible previously become possible," Regev said. "This includes coordinating the disengagement plan."

Meanwhile, a gun battle sparked by militants confronting moderate interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Gaza underscores the urgent need for elections to replace Yasser Arafat, Palestinian officials said.

Abbas narrowly escaped injury on Sunday when he got caught in a firefight between bodyguards and militants opposed to him.

A shoot-out with Abbas's security men broke out and two of them were killed as he was thrown to the floor by bodyguards and then hustled through the melee to safety.

Senior cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said yesterday the incident was not an assassination attempt.

Peace mediators hope the presidential vote will establish the legitimacy of whoever succeeds Arafat. "What happened reinforced the need to carry out presidential elections on January 9. We must exert every effort to hold the vote or we will be swamped with chaos and lawlessness," Erekat said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

(China Daily November 16, 2004)