RAMALLAH, 2 April 2005 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the resignation of one of his top security chiefs yesterday over a shooting attack on his Ramallah headquarters.

Abbas asked West Bank Intelligence Head Tawfiq Tirawi to remain in his post to enforce law and order in the Palestinian areas, sources at the Muqata headquarters said.

Tirawi earlier submitted his resignation after his organization was blamed for failing to control armed men, who went on a shooting spree at the headquarters and nearby restaurants in downtown Ramallah Wednesday night, causing extensive damage.

In an attempt to solve the problem with the recalcitrant militants, Abbas has decided to incorporate them into the Palestinian security forces.

He earlier ordered to arrest the perpetrators of the shooting spree, but no arrests were made yesterday. Observers said the president knows the militants would put up armed resistance against such arrests.

Meanwhile, Jewish settler leaders and Israeli security chiefs have clinched a deal to try to avoid armed confrontation during the controversial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip planned for later this year. But an Israeli Cabinet minister said the army should be ready to shoot to kill if soldiers come under fire during the pullout, which is being fiercely contested by settlers and Israeli right-wingers.

Both sides agreed during talks late Thursday that both settlers and members of the Israeli security forces charged with removing them from Gaza will not carry weapons during the pullout. The withdrawal will see more than 8,000 Jewish settlers evacuated from Gaza and from four West Bank settlements in an operation set to begin in July.

The last political obstacle to the plan was overcome Tuesday when Parliament passed the 2005 state budget, averting a government crisis that could otherwise have forced early elections and delayed the withdrawal.

Settler leaders and right-wingers have vowed to fight to the end to block the pullout, but Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra pledged Thursday that the security forces would not carry weapons during the withdrawal.

He said police would not forcibly disarm settlers but would rely on their leaders to collect weapons and hand them in ahead of the pullout.

— With input from agencies