Russian President Vladimir Putin laid a wreath on the late-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's tomb Friday and held talks with Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas. Putin was greeted at the Palestinian headquarters, known as the muqaata, by an honor guard of Palestinian security forces. Putin, the first Kremlin leader to visit the region, arrived with a plan to sell 50 armored personnel carriers and two helicopters to the Palestinians to replace vehicles destroyed during more than 4 1/2 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I think I can say the choppers are a done deal, but about the vehicles, we still don't have a clear-cut answer from the Israelis," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. The helicopters would be used to transport Abbas. Israel destroyed the Palestinian Authority's presidential helicopters as part of its campaign to limit the movement of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is accompanying Putin, said Thursday that the two sides would discuss how Russia could assist the Palestinians with their security. But when asked if Israel wouldn't be upset by the sale of armored personnel carriers, he replied, "This is an offer not so much for Israel, but for the Palestinians."
