Barak meets P.A.’s Fayyad

Israel’s new defense minister held secret talks with the new Palestinian Authority prime minister.Without approval from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak met Salam Fayyad last week to discuss ways of bolstering the P.A. emergency government that was set up last month, political sources revealed Sunday.The sources said Fayyad, a Western-educated reformist who has publicly condemned Palestinian violence, asked Barak to scale back Israeli military operations in the West Bank to reduce tensions.Word of the meeting, held July 4, drew angry responses from Olmert aides, who told the Israeli media that Barak was meddling in diplomatic affairs. Barak also is the newly elected leader of the Labor Party,