barrykind
Advanced Member
Member # 35
|
posted
Arafat Trying for a Fresh Start With Administration
Friday, July 12, 2002
WASHINGTON — Three weeks after President Bush demanded the ouster of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader has opened a dialogue with the Bush administration with a long letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell on U.S. demands for democratic change.
In the letter, Arafat is reported to have told Powell that Israel's military thrust onto the West Bank has limited what he can do to reform the Palestinian hierarchy.
Powell's spokesman, Richard Boucher, said Friday, "He did read the letter, yes."
And while Powell intends still to avoid personal contact with Arafat, whom the Bush administration has accused of being involved in corruption and terror, the State Department intends to respond in some way.
"These are issues that we discuss with the Palestinians," Boucher said.
In response to persistent U.S. demands for reform, which Bush has made a condition for supporting establishment of a Palestinian state, Arafat has said the Palestinian security apparatus was wrecked by Israeli forces in their forays into Palestinian-held areas.
In an Associated Press interview Friday at his headquarters in Ramallah, Arafat sidestepped Bush's demand for his removal.
Without saying whether he would seek re-election in January, the 73-year-old Palestinian leader said: "I have been elected by the people. I am not a coward. I am not ready to betray the people who elected me."
Boucher said American diplomats discuss the need for reform with a wide range of Palestinians, and it will be central to talks that Secretary of State Colin Powell plans next week with U.N., European and Arab leaders.
Bush has triggered a surge in U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East that will result in the meetings next week at the White House, the State Department and in New York.
As a first step, the president used the telephone Thursday to press his program with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan, both staunch public defenders of Arafat.
There was no word on whether Bush swayed them from demanding instant action on a Palestinian state and a quick end to Israel's presence on the West Bank, in Gaza and east Jerusalem.
The Arabs and European governments are only partly aligned with Bush. They say they share his worries about terrorism and corruption but want simultaneous action on the other fronts.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters after a meeting with Powell on Thursday that "we need to fight very strongly against terrorism. We need also to implement reform. We need to go forward on (Palestinian) elections. And we have the same goal, which is to create a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 frontiers."
But, de Villepin said, "We also want to stress the need for a political initiative. We think that the vacuum in the region can be very dangerous. We should not let the terrorists and the people who don't want peace take the initiative."
Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi ministers are expected to come to Washington next week for talks at the White House on the Middle East.
In the meantime, Powell will meet Tuesday in New York with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, European Union diplomat Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Boucher said.
The aim is to advance Bush's plan for a Palestinian state alongside and at peace with Israel and efforts to help the Palestinian people, Boucher said Friday.
They will be joined at a second session that day by foreign ministers Ahmed Maher of Egypt and Marwan Muasher of Jordan. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, will remain at home, but "We're talking to him about when we might get together," Boucher said.
Administration and diplomatic sources said the Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi ministers would go to Washington on Thursday and hold talks at the State Department and the White House, possibly with Bush.
--------------------
The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
