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Note: A notation of the form (R9) means all bulletins so marked are associated with bulletin 9. There can be a group of such reference files. 		-News for Wed. 10 April & Thur. 11 April 2002


Powell Confers With Jordan's King


VOA News
11 Apr 2002 15:31 UTC
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<b>Colin Powell</b>
Colin Powell
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is discussing the Israeli-Palestinian crisis with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman before starting the critical phase of his peace mission later Thursday when he arrives in Israel.

 King Abdullah is expected to urge Mr. Powell to press for an end to Israel's siege in the West Bank and to accept isolated Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as the legitimate Palestinian authority.

 Before leaving for Amman, Mr. Powell told reporters in Madrid Thursday morning that he is looking forward to the opportunity to meet with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and with Mr. Arafat, despite Mr. Sharon's assertion the Arafat meeting would be a "tragic mistake."

 Mr. Powell is expected to begin an open-ended series of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Friday. U.S. officials say Mr. Powell hopes to arrange a cease-fire and also wants to move the Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations on a political settlement that would include a Palestinian state.

 Thursday, Mr. Powell joined U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in calling on Israel to immediately pull out of Palestinian areas. 

The four parties also urged Mr. Arafat to do everything possible to halt attacks against Israeli civilians. The U.N. Security Council also endorsed the call for a cease-fire. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters. 

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