Powell Meets With Arafat
April 14, 2002
(AP / CBSNews.com)
Secretary of State Colin Powell called his Sunday meeting with Yasser Arafat ``useful and constructive'' but indicated no progress toward a cease-fire agreement from the Palestinian leader who remains under Israeli confinement in his rocket-scarred headquarters.
A top Arafat aide said the Palestinians ``absolutely'' pledged to curb violence against Israelis, but only after the Israeli military ends the 16-day-old incursion in Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank.
``When the Israelis complete the full withdrawal we will carry out our obligations,'' Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
Powell, in a terse statement after three hours of talks, said he and Arafat ``exchanged a variety of ideas'' to be followed up when the two sides meet again Monday. Powell and Arafat may meet again on Tuesday.
Powell said he talked with the Palestinian leader about ``steps on how we can move forward,'' but the secretary of state offered no details and he didn't indicate any progress was made on attempts to gain a cease-fire.
In the meeting, Powell made a 45-minute presentation to Arafat with the clear message that ``the bombings have to stop, that they are a major barrier to moving forward,'' on security and political issues, including Palestinian statehood, a senior U.S. official said.
Arafat, for his part, expressed serious concerns about the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially in Jenin, the site of fierce fighting, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Powell was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday night in Tel Aviv as the secretary of state engages in shuttle diplomacy in an attempt to halt 18 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
In the delayed talks with Arafat, Powell was pressing him to take ``effective action'' to end Palestinian attacks against Israel.
When he meets Sharon, Powell will push the U.S. call for a swift Israeli military withdrawal from the West Bank, for restraint by Israeli forces who are looking for militants and terrorists and for ``unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations'' for the Palestinian people.
U.S. officials want Arafat to use the ``bully pulpit of his leadership as required and called upon by our president to bring clearly home to his people that violence to accomplish political end is not going to be effective,'' Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in Washington.
As for what the Israelis must do, Armitage said the Bush administration wants a withdrawal, but isn't setting a deadline. ``There have been substantial withdrawals. We expect more,'' he said on CNN.
Arafat accompanied Powell to the front door of his blackened compound in the besieged West Bank compound and shook his hands at the end of the meeting, but the Palestinian leader did not emerge.
``Arafat did not come out for security reasons,'' senior Palestinian negotiator Erekat said, gesturing toward an adjoining building held by the Israel defense forces where soldiers peered out of windows. ``You see the Israeli snipers all around. We are not going to take that risk.''
President Bush has urged Israel to swiftly end its two-week-old military incursions in Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank in an operation aimed at arresting militants suspected of carrying out and planning terrorists attacks on Israelis. Sharon has pulled out of some
Powell and Arafat met for about three hours in a dining room, seated at a long table with Palestinian and American aides at their side.
Arafat, 72, appeared in good physical health, although he's been under pressure that is ``unreal for an old man like him,'' said Zeid Abu Shawish, a Palestinian doctor caring for wounded in the compound.
Powell, carrying a sheaf of papers and bearing a serious expression, entered the compound in the embattled West Bank surrounded by helmeted U.S. security personnel armed with submachine guns. He traveled the 12 miles from Jerusalem in a motorcade of six armored vans.
Powell said nothing to reporters as he entered Arafat's headquarters, a structure heavily damaged by Israeli shelling and gunfire. A gaping hole was torn in the blackened exterior wall of his compound, which was marked by bullet tracks. Many buildings have been reduced to piles of rubble.
Israeli tanks pulled back a bit from the compound for the meeting.
About two dozen international protesters shouted slogans inside the compound, yelling ``Free Palestine! End the occupation!''
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 is hoping to wind up his peacemaking mission on Tuesday, though there's been little progress so far. He may visit Syria to urge the country to clamp down on Hezbollah to prevent further attacks against Israeli position in Lebanon that threaten a wider war.
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.
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