Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated on Sunday he was ready to open negotiations with a new Palestinian leadership as the void left by Yasser Arafat's departure to Paris was filled by his top lieutenants. With the Palestinians still struggling to absorb the shockwaves generated by their veteran leader's exit to France for life-saving treatment, Sharon was weighing his options should his arch-enemy's absence prove to be permanent.
Sharon has severed all contact with not only Arafat but also his more moderate prime minister Ahmed Qorei over what he regards as their failure to rein in armed Palestinians such as fighters from the Hamas movement.
But with former Palestinian premier Mehmud Abbas now at the helm of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Arafat's Fatah faction, the prospect of a resumption of talks has grown sharply.
"If a new Palestinian leadership which is both serious and responsible emerges, it is possible that there can be a resumption of negotiations on the roadmap, peace plan," Sharon was quoted as telling the weekly cabinet meeting.
"A new leadership must prove by its actions that it is fighting against terrorism," he added, according to public radio.
Abbas and Sharon met on several occasions in mid-2003, during which they established a working, if not exactly warm relationship.
However, Sharon has boycotted the Palestinian leadership since Abbas resigned last September when a simmering row with Arafat over power-sharing boiled over.
The roadmap, which seeks to create a Palestinian state in 2005, has withered in the interim. Sharon has instead pursued a unilateral disengagement plan, which should see Israel pull out of the Gaza Strip next year while at the same time cementing its hold over large blocs of settlements in the West Bank.
Abbas presided over a meeting of the PLO executive committee on Saturday - the first time anyone but Arafat had been in the chair - while he also took charge of a Fatah central committee gathering on Sunday.
Qorei meanwhile headed up a Sunday meeting of the national security council, another Arafat-led body, where members took advantage of his absence by trying to implement a long-delayed streamlining of the myriad security services.
Foreign minister Nabil Shaath said the aim of the meeting was "to ensure the security agencies, or organisations will be revamped and given all the support (they need) to fulfil their duties."
Immediately after the meeting, Shaath headed to an emergency session of the Palestinian parliament where he gave MPs an update on Arafat's health.
"I have received news from Paris that the president has taken his first meal of cornflakes, tea and milk," he said. "He is alright, he retained it well."
In Paris, Arafat's top advisor said that the 75-year-old leader's condition was "curable" as French doctors carried out further tests to determine whether he is fit to stay on as the Palestinian Authority's supremo.
"I can assure you that he is not suffering from leukaemia or any serious problem. His situation is curable, and we hope that he will recover soon," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
Arafat - the symbol of the Palestinian struggle for statehood for 40 years - was dramatically evacuated from his West Bank headquarters on Friday and flown to Paris for tests to determine the nature of what is believed to be a serious blood disorder.
While it has been keeping a close eye on unfolding events in the Palestinian camp, Israel is also trying to keep a low profile.
Treading a careful line, officials have abstained from naming a preferred candidate to succeed Arafat.
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