Al-Arab al-Yawm (Jordan): Abu Mazen: Hamas reaches understanding with Israel – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas revealed ongoing secret negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Tel Aviv, saying they were political and security-oriented, aimed at reaching a truce to protect Hamas leaders from assassination. He told a small group of Jordanian journalists in Amman that a Hamas-Israeli understanding was reached to stop the firing of rockets at Israel in return for protecting Hamas leaders from assassination.

al-Quds al-Arabi (London): Hamas leaders go into hiding, accuse Arab security services of spying on their moves for Israel – Hamas leaders in Gaza are taking stringent security measures and their forces have gone into hiding after Israeli threats to liquidate them. Hamas officials accused unnamed Arab security services of spying on the moves of Hamas leaders for Israel, with the aim of liquidating them.

Al-Hayat (London): Cheney on Sunday starts tour of the region to give assurances for peace process – The White House announced yesterday that Vice President Dick Cheney will start a Middle East tour on Sunday, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey, aimed at assuring Washington's commitment to arriving at a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal. A U.S. official told al-Hayat that Cheney will also discuss with regional leaders the Iranian and Syrian role in Lebanon and Gaza, in addition to the rise of oil prices.

An-Nahar (Lebanon): Damascus logistically prepared for summit – Damascus yesterday made a point of showing its logistic readiness to host the Arab summit on March 29-30 by organizing a tour for journalists to the conference hall where the meeting will be held. The entrance of the capital was rehabilitated for the summit, and the highway between Damascus airport and the city was paved, the electric poles were fixed and flowers were planted along the sidewalks.

Al-Ahram (Egypt): Hijacking of aid vehicles in west Darfur threatens to stop food activities – The U.N.'s World Food Program (WFP) said yesterday it is facing unprecedented and very difficult conditions due to the hijacking of its vehicles transporting humanitarian aid to 2 million people in Darfur in west Sudan. The WFP said that in addition to the hijacking of 37 of its vehicles, it has not received special grants for its airborne activities, forcing it to stop its air services, at a time when using roads in Darfur is becoming more dangerous.