![Photo [Fri, Apr 26]](/clarinews/xwd/bd/photo-cnt31088.jpg)
Posted on 04/26/2002 9:08:46 PM PDT by RCW2001
Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) / Fri, 26 Apr 2002 20:30:08 PDT
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| BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK, 26-APR-2002: Israeli soldiers cover the entrance of the Church of the Nativity as a stretcher is unloaded in the West Bank town of Bethlehem April 26, 2002. Two injured Palestinians were evacuated from the church under a heavy smoke screen set off by the army. [Photo by Mike Nelson, copyright 2002 by AFP and ClariNet] </CLARI-ITEM CAPTION> |
CRAWFORD, Texas, April 26 (AFP) - An impatient President George W. Bush on Friday told Israel to halt its incursions into Palestinian areas "now", as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan delayed the arrival of a UN fact-finding mission to the refugee camp in Janin for one day.
"(The) Israelis understand my position. I've been very clear and there has been some progress, but it's now time to quit it altogether; it's time to end this," Bush said, making his second such appeal in two days.
The comments came one day after Bush's talks with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, in which the two leaders discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its implications for US relations with Arab countries.
Earlier Friday, Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by telephone, his spokesman Richard Boucher said.
The conversation centered on Israel's reluctance to let a United Nations fact-finding team enter Jenin refugee camp where the Palestinians claim a massacre took place.
The problem was resolved later in the day when Annan announced through his spokesman that the team would be in the region on Sunday.
Spokesman Fred Eckhard said "the Israeli Foreign Minister has requested that, due to the Israeli Sabbath, the team arrive on Sunday."
"Given these special circumstances, the secretary general has agreed to this request," he pointed out.
The breakthrough came after 24 hours of intermittent talks between senior UN officials and four Israeli envoys on the team's composition and its terms of reference.
Eckhard said the discussions took place in a "cordial and constructive atmosphere."
"Clarifications on the upcoming mission were provided by the UN," he added. The UN has been informed that the Israeli cabinet will make a formal decision on the matter on Sunday morning."
The team now comprises three full members: former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari; Cornelio Sommaruga, the Swiss former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); and Sadako Ogata of Japan, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
They have four advisers on military, police, legal and forensic questions; and the first military and police advisers each have two assistants.
Bush spoke amid signs of a rift within his foreign policy team, as several State Department officials admitted privately they were demoralized by administration infighting over the Middle East.
Pressure from the White House meanwhile, prompted Congress to delay legislation which branded Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a "terrorist" after Bush aides it could hamper their peace efforts.
Bush first called for an end to the incursions, which Sharon's government says are targeting suicide bombers, on April 4, but later said he was satisfied with Israel's limited withdrawal.
The operation has besieged Arafat in his Ramallah compound and trapped armed Palestinians in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.
The White House said Friday that Crown Prince Abdullah had presented Bush with an eight point list of Middle East peace objectives.
The plan, which appears to be largely an amalgam of existing US and Saudi proposals for ending the bloody Israel-Palestinian conflict, recommends :
- An Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian-ruled areas taken over in recent incursions;
- A lifting of the Israeli siege of Ramallah;
- The creation of a multinational peace force for the territories;
- The reconstruction of Palestinian infrastructure devastated by the fighting;
- Talks on US security plans, including the Tenet work plan and the Mitchell plan;
- The halting of Israeli settlement building;
- A renunciation of violence by both sides;
- A concerted US attempt to implement UN resolution 242 passed in 1967, which called for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab lands.
Late Friday, the Israeli army pulled its troops out from the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya, Israeli military sources said.
Israeli troops backed by 15 armored vehicles and two helicopters had entered the town before dawn, killing a local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Raed Nazel, accused by Israel of multiple attacks on Jewish settlers in the West Bank, was gunned down in the exchange of gunfire, Israeli officials said.
Up to 20 militants were picked up in Qalqilya and three villages between the towns of Nablus and Jenin, Israeli officials said.
The US House of Representatives meanwhile postponed a vote on a resolution branding Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a terrorist, under pressure from the Bush administration which judged it could hamper its Middle East peace efforts.
The move was ordered by Majority whip Tom Delay on Friday after a call from the White House, his spokesman said.
The bill states support for Israel and castigates Arafat, accusing him of "ongoing support and coordination of terror, and doubts he is still a "partner for peace."
Whispers that the Bush administration is badly split on Middle East policy Friday burst into the open, as several State Department officials admitted to frustration.
"There is a feeling that we are directionless, and that has created a lot of resentment and some anger," said one official, referring to a "generally gloomy mood" at the State Department as it battles the White House and Pentagon for control of Middle East policy.
The crisis will top the agenda at a meeting of the Middle East "quartet," which the State Department said Friday would meet in Washington on May 2.
The panel is made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
God, I love the smell of insubordination in the morning!
Sounds to me like you need something, more rewarding, to do that to the 'capitalization', letter by letter, of posted articles... LOL!!!
BooHoo....so just 'how were you harmed by this?? A couple more readers to an article of perhaps something you don't want somebody to read?
Forum rules, if I remember correctly states to 'use the original title'...well this IS the original title.
Did it 'really' influence you THAT much...??
Bump...I am beginning to believe that GWB is just about fed up with the 'insubordination' and could care less if he is a 2 term President. He will do what he think is right...and to hell with polls and paid shills.
I grow more confident with his leadership everyday, as of late.
Me too. :) And of his being reelected. What with all the Jews turning right and joining the GOP. :) They notice he's doing such a great job fighting terroism, he has supported Israel doing the same, and of course he refuses to meet with Arafat, refusing to give in to the 'paid shills', and various Middle East 'Princes.'
In this instance, you did not, in fact, post with the original title; you altered the emphasis in the title to give the impression that the President was angry at Israel. This particular instance is not a big deal, but the principle involved is a big principle. If you want to make a point or interpret an article, do the work of writing an accompanying post, maybe actually offer an argument, don't fiddle with the article.
Doing something wrong and then saying "Boo hoo" when someone calls you on it is a very junior-high kind of bluff. Most FReepers, I suspect, have already done junior high and are not likely to find it clever.
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