No question of Fatah dissolution: Qorei

"The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades form part of Fatah and will not be dissolved, they will be integrated in the institutions of Fatah," Qorei told the London-based Arabic-language daily Asharq al-Awsat.

The future of the hardline group, which has carried out a number of attacks embarrassing to the Palestinian leadership, has come to the fore in recent weeks.

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Qorei last week announced the establishment of a special commission to look into the complaints of the Brigades' militants, many of whom live under constant threat of imprisonment or even assassination by Israel.

While continuing to publicly voice loyalty to Palestinian leader and Fatah founder Yasser Arafat, many Brigade members privately voiced disillusion with the leadership and its push to demilitarize the nearly four-year-old Palestinian uprising.

The premier has been trying to persuade armed factions such as the Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad movement to halt their attacks against Israel.

But in return for even a partial truce in the Gaza Strip, the militants are insisting on guarantees that the Israeli army will never return to the territory following its promised withdrawal next year, the Palestinian representative at the Arab League, Mohammed Subeih, told AFP Saturday.

AP adds: Israel is to send special envoys to Arab countries in an attempt to harness the momentum of its decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and improve relations with them, officials said.

Along with the planned diplomatic blitz, Israel is also in an advanced stage of negotiations with the United Arab Emirates to open a representative office in Abu Dhabi, an official involved in the negotiations said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel currently has diplomatic ties with just three Arab counties and its relations with other Arab states worsened considerably after the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence began in September 2000.