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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CountofMoneyCristo who wrote (14864)	4/4/2002 12:48:02 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 27666

Israel Blocks Meetings With Arafat Thursday, April 04, 2002 JERUSALEM — Israel blocked a European Union mission Thursday from meeting Yasser Arafat, a day after preventing a U.S. envoy from visiting the besieged Palestinian leader. Europeans are demanding a larger role in efforts to mediate the crisis in the Middle East, saying the United States is not doing enough to stop the violence. On Thursday the Bush administration announced it was sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region. The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni on Thursday to hear his request to meet the Palestinian leader. On Wednesday, Sharon turned down a request from Powell that Zinni be allowed through an Israeli military blockade to see Arafat. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who chairs the rotating EU presidency, was to lead the European mission, meeting separately with Sharon and Arafat. But after the Israeli Cabinet decided Wednesday night not to allow the EU delegation to see Arafat, the EU mission was downgraded, with Aznar being replaced by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, accompanied by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. In Madrid, Aznar said Israel had made a mistake in not allowing him meet Arafat and said the solution to the conflict demanded "a more solid and firm stance by the United States and a combination with efforts from Russia." He reaffirmed his support for agreements made at the recent EU summit meeting in Barcelona which expressed support for Arafat, called for an immediate cease-fire and Israel's withdrawal from occupied Palestine zones. The European mission came after Romano Prodi, head of the EU's Executive Commission, urged the United States to step aside as primary mediator and make room for a broad alliance of nations -- including the EU, the Russians and moderate Arab nations -- to mediate a comprehensive peace deal for the region. "It is clear (American) mediation efforts have failed and we need new mediation" to avoid an all-out regional war, Prodi told reporters in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported Thursday that in a recent telephone conversation with Powell, Sharon refused to ease Arafat's weeklong isolation, even to allow Zinni to continue his attempts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians. A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report. In an indication that Sharon might be willing to reconsider, he agreed to meet Zinni on Thursday and hear his case for seeing Arafat. "If he asks (to see Arafat) it will be considered," Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin said. But the EU delegation would not be allowed to meet Arafat, who is confined to his office at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, surrounded by Israeli troops and armor. "He (Arafat) will be at this stage isolated," Sharon told reporters. "Therefore the European delegation that wanted to visit, the decision was not to allow that." At the Spanish Embassy in Tel Aviv, diplomat Diego Ruiz Alonzo said tentative steps were taken to arrange meetings with other Palestinian officials. But Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said he and his colleagues decided that if Arafat were not allowed to meet foreign mediators, then neither would other Palestinian officials. "If this delegation fails to get permission to meet Arafat, they will meet no Palestinians," Erekat said, adding that the same principle applied to talks with Zinni. If a meeting between Arafat and Zinni were to go ahead, Erekat said, it would center on a resolution adopted Saturday by the U.N. Security Council, which called for an immediate truce and expressed concern over Palestinian suicide bombings and the Israeli military assault on Arafat's headquarters. Powell was unenthusiastic about the European call for a multilateral approach to Middle East peacemaking. "I am not in a position to call for a conference, unless we know what purpose that conference would serve," Powell said Wednesday in Washington. "The immediate problem is to get control over the terrorism and the violence in the region," he said. "And until that is done, conferences that lay out different kinds of political goals or new political initiatives just take us off the main point," he said. foxnews.com

To: CountofMoneyCristo who wrote (14864)	4/4/2002 2:13:03 PM
From: epsteinbd	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27666

I agree with most of your post, including, of course, the " he carefully thought out the repercussion." However, at the same time Bush just gave us the timetable of his priorities, the limits of his power, a better view of his strategies... and what it means for Israel security. 1/ Within a week, ten days maximum, the IDF will have to pull out of most areas, and till then, slow their operations some. What they'll not be able to achieve against the terrorists rings will simply not be done. 2/ Bush first priority is to calm the Arab leaders; as he need their silent help in his big fight against Irak. For that purpouse, he is somehow putting the Israeli public security in jeopardy; it being understood here that there might be a chance of bringing Arafat to some form of negotiation on the disputed border line. I must agree with Bush that this is a secondary problem, as far as the world order is concerned. However, if the plan fails, Israel will not be able to give gthe PA another go, and it will be Arafat's head, or Sharon's, or both that will fall, and the winners will be the local PA terrorists, not the USA, nor the Israeli civilians. 3/ Up to now, no one know for sure what are Arafat's long term plans as far a general Arab terrorism is concerned. And if we are to analyse the last two weeks, since the Beyrouth meeting, followed by the Passover attack by a guy whose name was in the most wanted list for years without him being arrested, it seems clear to me that Arafat is playing knowingly in Saddam courtyard : keep the US hands tied as long as possible. And this collusion seems not to be clear to anyone, but to Bush and aids, who prefer to keep it secret. I just wish I were wrong, because if I am not, within a month, Israel is bound to get more kamikazes, or some loaded scuds, probably both.