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Powell’s
peace mission ends, much remains undone JERUSALEM — Ending a 10-day Mideast peace mission with little to show, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that Israel had promised to withdraw troops from the West Bank within a week. He bluntly admonished Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that he had to do more to fight terrorism. President Bush said Powell had made progress, but made clear that much more remains to be done, saying, “the time is now for all to make the choice for peace.” Israel and the Palestinians blamed each other for Powell’s failure to achieve more. “Who can accept this?” said an angry Arafat, complaining of the Israeli siege of his Ramallah headquarters. Powell, for his part, focused on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s promise to wind down the Israeli military offensive in Palestinian towns and villages, calling the operation an obstacle to starting peace talks. “I came here not knowing how long the operation would go on,” Powell said. “We had heard everything from a couple more weeks to a couple more months. I leave here able to say to the president, it wasn’t immediate but it is now coming to an end.” Bush,
in a speech at Virginia Military Institute, offered next steps for
all sides, saying the Palestinian Authority “must act —
must act — on its words of condemnation of terror.” Israel,
he said, “must continue its withdrawal and all Arab states
must step up to their responsibilities” In a news conference before heading home, Powell said he would return to the region “to move ahead” with efforts to get peace negotiations on track. He gave no date and said in the meantime, CIA Director George Tenet, U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns will try to improve security and direct the two sides to peace making. Tenet is considering going to the region next week, but no final decision has been made by the White House or the CIA director, a U.S. official said. That’s one of the things Bush and Powell will discuss when they meet Thursday morning at the White House, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Also on the agenda is the timing of when Powell will return and on the possibilities of a peace conference. “There can be no peace without security, but there can be no security without peace,” Powell said. On that front, Powell said the biggest problem was Israel’s determination to arrest Palestinians in Ramallah accused of attacks on Israel. He said American diplomats would try to work something out between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In the meantime, Powell said a cease-fire cannot be imposed while Israeli troops remain on the West Bank. After their meeting, Arafat focused on Israel’s siege of his battered compound and appealed for international help. “I have to ask the whole international world, I have to ask excellency President Bush, I have to ask the United Nations is this acceptable that I can’t go outside the door?” he said, his voice rising with apparent exasperation. Just next door, Israeli gunners peeked through half-opened windows and Israeli tanks ensured the confinement of the Palestinian leader. “They are returning,” Arafat said, referring to Israel’s latest surge into Palestinian areas, after Sharon had said he would withdraw Israeli troops within a week from all towns and villages except Ramallah and Bethlehem. The Palestinian leader called Israel’s siege of the holy Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem “shameful.” |
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