RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Palestinian officials said Sunday they were encouraged during last week’s talks in Washington by what they saw as renewed Bush administration interest in their cause, but remain disappointed by White House silence over Israeli troops in the West Bank.

“The spirit was good. The meetings were good. The American administration dealt with the (Palestinian Authority) much like we had in the past eight years and it gave us a lot of hope,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a key aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

“But we have been saturated with good meetings. What we need now is for the Israeli troops to leave” the territories, Rudeineh said.

The meetings between the Palestinians and Washington last Thursday and Friday were the highest-level talks since June 24, when President Bush delivered a policy address in which he pushed for the sidelining of Arafat and called for major reforms within the Palestinian Authority. Arafat, in a brief appearance at his compound Sunday morning, called the talks “important” but would not elaborate. Arafat was not part of the traveling delegation.

Palestinian sources Sunday characterized the meetings, particularly those with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and CIA director George Tenet, as encouraging. Diplomatic and Palestinian sources said the Americans focused on issues of security, and financial controls of the Palestinian Authority. The Americans, deliberately and purposely, avoided talk of Arafat or the issue of his continued leadership role.

The Palestinians, in every meeting, took care to point out that Arafat had authorized their visit and the decisions were reached with Arafat’s approval. The Americans, cautioned in the past few weeks by Arab leaders that denunciations of Arafat only strengthened public support among Palestinians, did not respond or criticize Arafat by name.

But the Israeli and Palestinian leaders exchanged angry accusations Sunday.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he did not believe Arafat’s government would take action to prevent Palestinian attacks against Israel.

“Arafat is the head of terrorism, and no one is counting on him,” Sharon told a Cabinet meeting.

Arafat, speaking at his damaged Ramallah compound, which is surrounded by Israeli troops and armor, initially said “The talks were very positive and very important, and there will be results on the ground very soon.”

But he appeared to backtrack when he added that he did not think Sharon’s government was serious about peace negotiations.

“This government is looking only for more escalation for its military plans. They are not looking to achieve peace,” Arafat said. The Palestinian delegation, led by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, Trade Minister Maher Al-Masri, arrived in Washington hours after talks over a proposed security agreement with Israel fell apart. The attempt to reconstitute Palestinian police forces in Gaza and Bethlehem withered when Israeli negotiators backed away from removing troops in Bethlehem and, later, refused to return Palestinian police equipment, sources said. The U.S., aware of how and why the security talks had failed, pressed the Palestinians for details on how they would reorganize their security forces. During talks with the CIA’s Tenet, Yehiyeh appealed for patience but also directly asked for the removal of Israeli troops as a condition for success. He described, in some detail, how the military lockdown restricted the authority’s ability to function.

“We made the point that there should be an Israeli withdrawal. That is the starting point for reforms,” Rudeineh said.