A top Egyptian envoy was due to seek pledges from Yasser Arafat to reform Palestinian forces yesterday at a meeting that could seal Egypt?s role smoothing Israel?s Gaza pullout, Palestinian officials said. Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was also due to urge Israel to stop raids into the Gaza Strip, to safeguard a possible Egyptian presence, and to allow in some international forces.

Suleiman first presented the demands for reforms to the Palestinians last month. An Egyptian role in the Gaza Strip could help prevent a collapse into factional anarchy or an Islamist takeover if Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s unilateral plan to withdraw settlers from the occupied territory goes ahead.

Egypt, which lost Gaza to Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, has said it could send up to 200 trainers to Gaza if it has agreement from the Palestinian Authority and factions and if Israel agrees a ceasefire. Arafat has publicly welcomed the possible Egyptian presence.

Palestinian officials said Suleiman would demand evidence from Arafat at his besieged headquarters that he was ready to unify at least 12 Palestinian security forces and cut the number to just three. They also said Arafat would need to agree to cede security powers to Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie.

?There is need for the Palestinian forces to be more efficient and I am sure the Palestinians will benefit from the Egyptian experience,? Palestinian cabinet minister Azzam al-Ahmad told Reuters. In a sign the Palestinian Authority aimed to show willingness on the Egyptian proposal, officials announced on Tuesday that a single control room was being set up to oversee the various security bodies.

But the appointment at its head of an Arafat loyalist, Major-General Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, made clear that the veteran Palestinian leader would keep his hands firmly on the reins.

Putting a cloud over Suleiman?s meeting was a statement from 10 Palestinian factions this week opposing an Egyptian presence in Gaza. After Arafat, the envoy was due to meet Israeli ministers in Jerusalem ? though not Ariel Sharon. Israeli officials said they wanted to know what message Suleiman had been given by Arafat. Israel is wary of reports that the Egyptians would like international forces stationed in parts of Gaza.

Having ruled out negotiations with the Palestinians for now, Sharon is keen to present the U.S.-backed pullout as a unilateral move. ?We see enormous importance in the Egyptian involvement in Gaza and on the border,? Sharon was quoted as saying by Army Radio. ?But I have no intention of enabling the Egyptians to hold a position as mediator.?

The plan to remove all 21 settlements from the Gaza Strip and four of 120 from the West Bank won cabinet approval in principle this month, but the removal of Jewish enclaves still needs another vote in March.

Palestinians fear they will only get Gaza at the expense of a firmer Israeli hold on parts of the West Bank, where they also want a state.

Medics said Israeli troops killed a Palestinian in Gaza. The army said it had shot a gunman. Palestinian security sources said the 22-year-old man was a farmer. The army said it killed the bodyguard of an Islamic Jihad militant during an operation to arrest him the West Bank city of Nablus.

Wafa Amr