(The Arab bomber, disguised as an Orthodox Jew, murdered 17 innocents and wounded over 100)
(George Bush confers with the foreign minister of Muslim terrorist Egypt, a supplier of arms and money to the PLO)
Posted on 06/22/2003 9:25:08 AM PDT by veronica
DEAD SEA, Jordan - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he was concerned about the Israeli killing of a leading member of Hamas but nevertheless emphasized that Hamas and Islamic Jihad shoulder primary responsibility for the difficult situation facing the Palestinian people.
Powell added that Middle East peace negotiators needed to keep working despite the killing of the Hamas leader in Hebron on Saturday at the hands of Israeli special police forces.
"I regret we had an incident that could be an impediment to
progress," he told a news conference after a meeting of the "Quartet" of key international peace brokers. "It is a matter of concern. It is still important to remain committed to moving forward."
The American secretary of state expressed his displeasure with Israel's policy of assassination and called on Israel and the Palestinians to both take steps to implement the road map and advance the diplomatic process.
Mediators from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations met on Sunday to try to push Israelis and Palestinians along their road map peace plan. On Saturday, Israel security forces killed Abdullah Qawasme, a leading Hamas militant in the West Bank city of Hebron.
Israel, Palestinians to form joint economic projects Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, the most senior Israeli at the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea in Jordan, met Sunday with Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad. The two men discussed increasing the economic cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian government officials will meet in the coming days to work on forming joint economic projects, Shalom told reporters.
"We will try to form working groups and meet in the coming days in Jerusalem to form common projects," Shalom said.
One of the projects they discussed was to develop the Gaza Industrial Estate located at Karmi, along the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. The industrial park has been closed as part of Israel's efforts to crack down on security in the wake of the Palestinian uprising that began in September 2000.
Shalom also met Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan al-Muasher and they discussed moving forward with a multi-billion dollar project to build a canal that would carry water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. He said assistance from the World Bank and donor countries would be needed for the joint project.
Shalom also said he held his first meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa. The two countries do not have diplomatic relations.
"It was the first meeting after a long time between an Israeli minister and a very high official from Bahrain," Shalom told Reuters.
"This kind of meeting couldn't take place until a few months ago and it is a very good signal for the future. We are willing together to develop negotiations between Israel and Bahrain and we will work on it in order to bring better ties and relations between us and Bahrain."
Shalom was also due to meet Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani later in the day.
King Abdullah: the vast majority is interested in peace.
Addressing the opening session of the conference at Shuneh Dead Sea resort on Saturday, King Abdullah said the vast majority of Arabs and Israelis are interested in peace in the Middle East and a minority of extremists is trying to undermine the diplomatic process.
Around 1,100 businessmen, officials, academics and religious leaders are attending the event organized by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum.
The king called for the immediate implementation of the road map peace plan. "This [the road map] needs more than words and wishful thinking. The friends of peace here and around the world must be steadfast. This means real commitment, that will test our leadership, our resources, and our deepest moral convictions."
Among those taking part are UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, German President Johannes Rau, the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman Ben-Hamed al-Khalifa, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, and the Netherlands.
The meeting comes after a weekend of busy diplomatic activity from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on Friday.
Powell met with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Powell is a great liability to the Bush Administration and an enemy of Israel. He delayed the war in Iraq until the weather nearly made it unfeasible (we should've gone to war a month earlier); he brought up this weapons of mass destruction as a justification when Iraq having the facilities at Salman Park and training the 9/11 terrorists would have been better one; he criticized Sharon for killing this Hamas terrorist today; and is pushing this roadmap to destroy Israel's sovereignty and Jewish state itself. And you give us an article from this leftwing Haaretz newspaper that is infected with self haters.
Sorry Veronica, I think you're being over optimistic. This Abu Mazen is a holocaust denier and terrorist too. We're paying the price in Iraq for Powell putting pressure on Israel not to crack down on homicide bombers there.
It is no wonder that some Objectivist psychologist calls Colin Powell the most dangerous man in America.
Yes, I know. And don't assume I agree with an article just because I post it. I am well aware of the left leaning of Haaretz. :)
Your rhetoric is outrageous and untrue.
The US remains a strong friend and ally to the Israeli people. The policy of this administration, is to support the Jewish state and try and bring lasting peace to the ME. The State Department is the diplomatic arm of the US government and in this case, SecPowell is PresBushes represenattive in brokering his peace plan.
>>>It is no wonder that some Objectivist psychologist calls Colin Powell the most dangerous man in America.
Whoever said that is crazy. Lets connect the dots here. Objectivism is a form of libertarianism and libertarianism borders on anarchy, and anarchy is chaos! That's not the political philosophy that most American's support and isn't what the USA is all about.
He is following orders. If you don't like the policy, criticize Bush.
Objectivism came before the Libertarian party and the Ayn Rand heirs despise the Libertarian party.
Where have I heard that phrase before :|
Yeah OK, but who is giving the orders in this case, eh? Not irrelevant. If not W, who?
The actions I mentioned in my first post bear Powell's imprint. Yes. I have to blame the President for pushing this horrible Roadmap stuff, but at least he didn't follow through on Powell's suggestion not to bomb Afghanistan during Ramadan.
Powell is too much of an appeaser and his WMD idea may have cost the administration credibility. I still think they should've gone with Laurie Mylroe's training the 9/11 terrorists.
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