PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas meeting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch at his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Thursday. (AP)
Posted on 11/03/2006 12:04:22 PM PST by Esther Ruth
Last update - 18:53 03/11/2006
U.S. officials demand IAF cease overflights in Lebanese airspace
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Two Bush administration officials demanded that Israel Air Force overflights of Lebanon be halted, saying that such flights undermine the standing of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
The two U.S. diplomats, David Welch and Elliott Abrams, held short meetings Thursday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The meeting with Olmert was dedicated to preparations for his visit to the United States and his meeting with President George W. Bush in 10 days' time.
A government source said that the two envoys did not put forth any new diplomatic initiative on behalf of the Bush administration.
Olmert also met Thursday with visiting U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, who is in Israel as the guest of Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Negroponte's talks with Israeli intelligence officials are focusing on Iran and its nuclear program, a subject that will also preoccupy Bush and Olmert during their meeting in Washington.
The talks with Welch and Abrams, in contrast, focused on the standing of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The U.S. diplomats said that Abbas is "exhibiting weakness," and the main question is whether it is possible to strengthen him - and if so, how.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
excerpts...
On Wednesday, the security cabinet authorized a plan put forward by the American security coordinator in the territories, General Keith Dayton, to bolster Palestinian security forces loyal to Abbas in the Gaza Strip.
However, this authorization was only in principle, and Israel has yet to give a green light for either the delivery of additional arms to Abbas or the entry into Gaza of the Badr Brigade, a Palestine Liberation Organization force currently stationed in Jordan.
The question of how to bolster Abbas was also at the center of a meeting of Quartet representatives in London last week. The participants - representing the U.S., European Union, Russia and the UN - discussed the implementation of three existing accords: a November 2005 agreement on the Gaza border crossings, the Sharm al-Sheikh understandings of February 2005, and the road map peace plan.
They agreed that Israel should be asked to allow expanded operations at the Rafah and Karni crossings into Gaza, and also to enable free passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel will also be asked to remove the checkpoints that impede the free flow of traffic in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the British government is promoting a plan to bypass Hamas and strengthen the PA by bolstering four institutions directly answerable to Abbas: the border crossings authority, the monetary authority, the presidential guard and the legal system. Norway, for its part, is calling a conference of PA donor countries.
Of course they undermine the prime minister, they give legitimacy to hezbollah by making israel seem as the "bad guy" to the lebanese people. I mean when i went to school there they used to scare us with sonic booms virtually every day, whats the point really?
The Israelis should tell the US officials to STFU and let them do what they have to do.
Give me a break... unbelievable. Let me go check on this...
ping
I would think that seeing foreigners bringing all kinds of weaponery into the country to wage war on a neighbor, making my children a shield, and taking over my govt. would be more frightning than a few sonic booms.
Thank you... yet no one says a thing when they store weapons and shoot out of the mosques... this is BS.
How many churches have they burned and Christians (not to mention those of their own faith), have they killed.
They can kiss my *ss, they're lucky I wasn't flying in the jet. Meanwhile the useless, terrorist coddling UNIFIL at this moment sits back while they move arms in to them.
Please.
Lebanese leaders call for unity [All of them support the terrorists. ...always have.]
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668991/posts
See "Maronite."
Ping?
But it won't have both
***
Right, no one can serve two masters.
The God of Israel or the world.
"such flights undermine the standing of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora"
but the presence of Hezbully not?
Do we need an intermediary to help up with our problems? To the best that my memory serves me, we have not asked any other country to intervene in our affairs/problems with Mexico.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
Makes sense to me, this will make it easier for Hizbollah to rearm. And since Abbas is "exhibiting weakness," and the main question is whether it is possible to strengthen him - and if so, how., we're rearming his terrorists. Prisoners, they ain't got no prisoners, which is why their status isn't brought up.
We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism . Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
A fine political speach, but our enemies know it's application is selective.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas meeting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch at his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Thursday. (AP)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.