Sunday, 10 March, 2002
Powell
Telephones Sharon, Arafat to Underscore US Concern
David
Gollust
State
Department
9
Mar 2002 01:14 UTC
 
In advance of
the departure to the Middle East of U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni, the
State Department aimed sharp criticism at both Israel and the
Palestinians for the wave of violence in the region. Secretary of State
Colin Powell telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Friday to underscore U.S. concern.
Officials here are
watching the mounting violence with dismay, as it makes Mr. Zinni's
quest for implementation of last year's cease-fire plan of CIA
Director George Tenet all the more difficult.
Briefing
reporters, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said "heinous"
acts of terror by Palestinians such as Thursday's gun attack on
schoolboys at a Jewish settlement in Gaza can only harm the interests of
the Palestinian people.
But he also
said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should re-think his strategy
of military reprisals.
"Prime
Minister Sharon has to take a hard look at his policies to see whether
they will work. Declaring war against the Palestinians and attempting
to solve the problem through military action doesn't lead us anywhere,"
said Mr. Boucher. "Right now both sides should think through the
consequences of the policies they're following. Both parties need to
take a hard look at what they're doing now, and take the necessary
steps so that they can implement the Tenet work plan immediately, as a
first step toward full implementation of the Mitchell committee
recommendations."
Spokesman
Boucher said U.S. officials are "very concerned" about
recurring reports that Israeli forces whether deliberately or not have
attacked Palestinian ambulances, medical personnel, and others trying
to cross checkpoints for emergency reasons.
He said it is "imperative"
that Israeli forces exercise "utmost restraint and discipline"
to avoid further harm to civilians.
The spokesman also
said the administration is "deeply troubled" by reports of
vigilante action by Jewish settlers against Palestinian villagers in
the West Bank near Nablus.
The Tenet plan,
hammered out by the CIA chief on a Middle East shuttle mission last
June, was never officially published.
But leaked texts
carried by Israeli newspapers say it provides for, among other things,
the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation, the
apprehension of Palestinian terrorists, an end to Israeli attacks on
Palestinian Authority facilities, and a redeployment of Israeli forces
away from Palestinian cities.
Spokesman
Boucher said the administration hopes to see steps toward its
implementation even before Mr. Zinni's expected arrival in the area
the middle of next week.
That is
understood to have been one of the points made by Secretary of State
Powell in his Friday telephone calls to Mr. Arafat and Prime Minister
Sharon.
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