Prepared by Hdaeel Wahdan

FULL-BLOWN negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are set to resume in Washington after the two sides tentatively agreed on a long-delayed land transfer to the PA. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said it was good for the peace Process that the two sides were finally acting "like partners." "It is a Good sign that we were consulted," Erekat said.

It is not the first time Israel has turned over land, but in an unprecedented move, Israel allowed the PA to have a say in the choice of land to be ceded. The PA was invited to select the due amount of land - 6.1 percent of Judea-Samaria - from an area comprising 10 percent of the disputed territory.

One of the reasons the Palestinians suspended talks last month was because Israel was dictating the land choices. Although the land transfer broke the talks deadlock, Barak's concession has come under sharp criticism from opposition legislators, who said it set a "dangerous precedent." Nowhere in any agreement signed between the parties since 1993 is Israel required to consult with the Palestinians over which land it would transfer. Israel says it has U.S. letters guaranteeing that it has the sole right to decide.

The pullback, which is the third Israeli handover of territory since Prime Minister Ehud Barak took office, will leave 42.9 percent of the "West Bank" - 136.6 square miles - under full or partial PA control. More than 95 percent of the Arab population in that area will also be under PA administration.

Erekat said the maps for the pullback were presented to the PA and that he did not expect "any problems." The maps did cause problems among Israeli lawmakers, who charged that Barak was trying to divide Jerusalem.

The extent of opposition forced Barak to reverse an earlier proposal to include an Arab town on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Anata, in the land transfer. A source in the prime minister's office was quoted as saying that the entire uproar was a "simple, but clever maneuver" on Barak's part to allow the opposition to "let off steam" and "claim some sort of victory" once Anata was removed from the maps. The fact that two other Arab villages near Jerusalem - though not on the border - and other villages not far away are being transferred would seem to back this assertion.

In any case, villages like Anata, which are already under Palestinian civilian control, are likely to be transferred to full PA control in a final agreement. Erekat, who goes to Washington for the resumption of talks, will be involved in discussions on the issue of yet another small Israeli redeployment, agreed upon in previous agreements. Though he declined to elaborate on what exactly will be discussed, he was quoted earlier as saying the PA hopes to gain control over all of the West Bank except for Israeli settlements and army installations.

By the time it enters talks on a final agreement, the PA wants 90 percent of the territory to give it some bargaining clout. However, Israel is required by earlier agreements to cede only a further one- percent. Some analysts have suggested that PA Chairman Yasser Arafat is eager to obtain as much land as he can in advance of permanent negotiations in case the parties fail to reach a final agreement. That would place him in a stronger position for a unilateral declaration of independence.

The talks to begin in Washington tomorrow are aimed at reaching a framework on a "permanent status" deal, covering issues such as Israeli settlements in Judea-Samaria, Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and water. Arafat and Barak have agreed on an ambitious timetable of arriving at a framework agreement by May and a permanent accord by September 13.