Powell: Qurei should take charge in Gaza

Jerusalem Post ^ | Sep. 22, 2004 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Declaring Yasser Arafat unable to do the job, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the Palestinian Authority to empower Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei to take charge in Gaza when Israel withdraws.

Qurei must be seen "as somebody who has authority to act in the name of the Palestinian people" and can work with Israel, the United States and Egypt, Powell said Wednesday as he recommitted the Bush administration to a US-backed road map for peacemaking.

"It is the only way forward," Powell said at a news conference. He said the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, which joined with the United States in devising the blueprint for peacemaking, would "do everything we can to seek progress on the road map."

Dismissing Arafat, who is recognized by most of the world as the Palestinians' leader, Powell said, "Chairman Arafat is not able to act in this manner and therefore we continue to encourage him to give authority to a prime minister."

In a separate session with reporters, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom pledged to go ahead with the withdrawal - despite some domestic opposition - and called on the Palestinians to cooperate in Mideast peacemaking.

"Of course, we would like to cooperate in order to find ways how to do it in the right way," Shalom said before the so-called Quartet met to review progress on their road map for peacemaking.

Shalom said Israel decided on a unilateral plan to withdraw all 8,000 Jewish settlers and Israeli armed forces from Gaza.

"The Palestinians were never willing to implement their commitments to the road map," he said. "If they will do so, of course, it will be very important for a better future for the Middle East."

But first, he said, the Palestinians must dismantle the infrastructure of terror groups. He spoke after another deadly suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

Shalom said Israel was coordinating its withdrawal with Egypt and the United States. He said Tuesday the pullout should begin next March. Shalom met with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and requested a UN resolution condemning anti-Semitism. He said Israel was negotiating with Germany to introduce it.

On Tuesday, Shalom assured Powell that Israel would build no new settlements on the West Bank, but did not promise to stop "natural growth" of existing communities as families grow larger. Also, Shalom said Israel would remove some two dozen remaining temporary outposts in the territories.

But on "natural growth," Shalom said, "You cannot force young people who are getting married out of their villages, their settlements. You cannot do it."

President George W. Bush, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, called the Palestinians "long-suffering" and said they deserve "true leaders capable of creating and governing a free and peaceful Palestinian state."

It was another step by the Bush administration to try to persuade the Palestinians to ostracize Yasser Arafat, their longtime leader and symbol of resistance, from leading the Palestinians toward the state that Bush has advocated arising next year.

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Ahmed Queri (aka Abu Ala) and the late Ahmed Yassin

Ahmed Queri (aka Abu Ala) and Yasser Arafat

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Ping.

[American in Israel]

Powell is brain dead, why does he want terrorists to take charge anywhere in Israel?