Kindgo
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http://www.nj.com/newsflash/washing...lash-washington
Powell says Palestinians may have an interim state; U.S. intends to deal with Arafat
By BARRY SCHWEID
The Associated Press
6/12/02 2:26 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday the Bush administration is looking into the idea of an interim Palestinian state. He declined to rule out Yasser Arafat as being in charge.
"It isn't all that new and revolutionary a suggestion," Powell told reporters as he flew to a foreign ministers meeting in Canada. "It's been a pretty consistent element in all of the discussions about how to move forward in the Middle East."
His statements elaborated on an interview with an Arabic-language newspaper on Monday in which he said the administration was talking to other countries about setting up a provisional Palestinian state and taking the idea up at a Mideast peace conference this summer.
Aboard the airplane, Powell sought to play down the significance of the proposal, casting it as only one of many ideas long under consideration.
Without saying which countries raised the idea of an interim state, Powell said there was a view that an interim state would create "a political horizon" that could make it easier for Palestinians to carry out the reforms that are needed to improve security and make the Palestinian leadership more accountable.
Others, he said, were concerned that a temporary arrangement could hang Palestinians in limbo, and "you may never get to the end state."
"There are strong views on both sides of this issue," Powell said. "We have heard these expressed from all of the people we've been consulting with."
... At the White House, presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer coolly diminished Powell's statements as pieces of advice that Bush may or may not heed.
"Welcome to the Middle East. This is a situation where people get a variety of information, a variety of advice and if the president has anything further to indicate, he will," Fleischer said...
Powell himself, en route to a meeting with foreign ministers in Canada, told reporters: "I did not say there would be a state. I said these are the ideas that are out there."
... "I think almost everybody has come to the agreement that there is a need for a provisional or interim steps," Powell said of a Palestinian state.
"The question is how long should that be the case and how does one get to the comprehensive solution at the end."
[Answer: Maybe by a covenant with many for one week.]
Powell said Wednesday that Bush would round out his consultations with Middle East leaders Thursday with the Saudi foreign minister and then, "in the very near future," announce how he intends to secure a Palestinian state.
Bush could lay out his plan as early as next week, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The president and Powell have insisted on democratic reform within the Palestinian Authority. But at the same time Powell has indicated the process of reform should not halt establishment of a state on land held by Israel.
"The president has not retreated from his goal," Powell said. "He knows that in order to achieve this vision, it might be necessary to set up a temporary state as a transitional step."
And, Powell send, "perhaps several steps before this ends" might be necessary.
Powell reiterated that any Palestinian state should be democratically ruled.
... On another front, Powell said the Mideast foreign ministers meeting being planned for the summer would be the first of several such meetings.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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