Posted on 06/22/2002 7:32:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The U.S. dismissed Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's comments to Ha'aretz that he now accepts the proposal of former U.S. president Bill Clinton for a permanent status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Sources in the administration said it is perfectly clear this plan is no longer on the agenda and so there is no significance to such a statement.
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that the U.S. "welcomes any remarks that tend to promote a [positive] environment and look forward to peacemaking. We welcome especially calls to end violence and terror."
The sources said the administration sees Arafat's statement as a declaration of willingness to give up on an across-the-board right of return for Palestinian refugees, and a readiness to compromise on this issue, rather than an adoption of the Clinton proposal itself.
The continuing wave of violence in the region, that prompted President George Bush to postpone his much anticipated speech on plans for the Middle East, has also led to a renewed debate within the administration over the content of the speech and there could now be an even further delay.
According to various reports in the U.S., the president and his aides are debating the value of advocating an interim Palestinian state in the speech, given Arafat's difficulties in combating terrorism.
According to The New York Times, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and their close aides have expressed skepticism about proposing anything that could be seen as rewarding Palestinian terrorism.
Quoting sources in the administration, even Secretary of State Colin Powell, who pushed hardest for the plan to be published and for an interim state, has been discouraged and is no longer trying to convince Bush to make the speech as soon as possible. Lawyers and advisers are also reportedly divided over the status of an interim state and what sort of institutions it would have.
It was hoped that Bush would be able to make the speech to the G-8 summit in Canada that opens on Tuesday, but this is looking unlikely. Bush said he would not make the speech over the weekend, nor at the summit, meaning tomorrow is the only possible day to deliver the plan.
In Florida on Friday, Bush was blunt about his schedule. "If you're talking about the speech," he told reporters, "I'll give the speech when I'm ready to give the speech.
"But I strongly condemn the series of attacks," Bush said. "I fully recognize that Israel's got the right to defend herself, and all parties who are interested in getting on the path to peace must do everything they can to reject this terror. It is outrageous, and it's got to be stopped."
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