Posted on 04/14/2002 12:27:22 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
JERUSALEM, Apr 14, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Struggling to get a cease-fire in place and peacemaking started, Secretary of State Colin Powell is pressing Yasser Arafat in his mostly destroyed Ramallah headquarters Sunday to take "effective action" to end Palestinian attacks against Israel.
The heavily guarded visit where Arafat is confined by Israeli troops is bound to boost Arafat's standing as the leader of the Palestinian people and the one Israel must deal with to seek a peace accord.
Powell also is calling for restraint by Israeli forces on the West Bank and for "unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations" for the Palestinian people caught up in the 16-day Israeli siege.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has already dismissed any notion of making peace with Arafat, whom he accuses of being responsible for a deadly rash of suicide bombings.
But Powell is determined to begin a process that would culminate in Palestinian statehood on land Israel captured from the Arabs in the 1967 Mideast war.
Powell decided to meet with Arafat after the Palestinian leader denounced terrorism on Saturday in a statement the White House demanded.
The talks had been delayed 24 hours because Arafat initially ignored U.S. calls to condemn the Friday attack of a suicide bomber near a Jerusalem marketplace, which killed six and injured scores.
"We are condemning strongly all the attacks which are targeting civilians from both sides and especially the attack that took place against Israeli citizens yesterday in Jerusalem," Arafat said Saturday.
Arafat's statement, in Arabic, was distributed by the Palestinian news service WAFA and was read several times on Palestinian television and radio, giving it the circulation the Bush administration sought.
Arafat also lashed out at Israel's West Bank operation: "We also condemn very strongly the massacre that was committed by the Israeli occupation troops against our refugees in Jenin and against our people in Ramallah, Nablus and Tulkarem and also the brutal aggression against the church in Bethlehem during the last two weeks."
Israeli forces moved into more West Bank villages Saturday, and sporadic fighting continued, especially in Nablus where seven Israeli tanks began shelling the main local government complex.
The Israeli government dismissed the Palestinian leader's statement and noted that the suicide bomber who struck Friday was sent by Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement.
"We want deeds, not words," said Danny Ayalon, foreign policy adviser to Sharon. "We cannot be impressed by any condemnation of their doings and their own strategies, which continue."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declined to make a judgment on Powell's chances of securing a cease-fire and steering the two sides to peacemaking and a Palestinian state.
Boucher said Arafat's statement contained "a number of interesting and positive elements," including condemnation of terror and a reaffirmation of a Palestinian commitment to a negotiated peace with Israel.
Also, the statement called for immediate implementation of a shelved cease-fire plan prepared by CIA Director George Tenet, Boucher said.
"The secretary will work with Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian leadership to show leadership and to help make these statements a reality, with effective action to bring an end to terror and violence and an early resumption of a political process," Boucher said.
It was disclosed Saturday that U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni had met Friday in Jericho with Palestinian officials.
Powell consulted by telephone with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and European officials before deciding to meet Arafat.
By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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