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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (23510)	4/4/2002 6:48:20 PM
From: BigBull	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Can you make any sense out of these latest statements from the PA? Exactly which of Bush's statements does Arafat agree to "unconditionally?" wire.ap.org APRIL 04, 18:21 ET Palestinians Welcome Bush Initiative By MARK LAVIE Associated Press Writer Bush and Powell AP/Ron Edmonds [13K] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian leadership accepted ``without conditions'' a new peace effort by President Bush, in a Cabinet statement issued early Friday. Bush called for Israel to stop its incursions into Palestinian-controlled territory in the West Bank and begin to withdraw its forces. The president restated U.S. demands that Palestinians stop terror attacks and said he would send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region to try to negotiate an end to the crisis. The statement said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his leadership accept cease-fire proposals put together last year by CIA director George Tenet and a wider plan for restarting peace talks. The statement denounced the Israeli military campaign: ``We should not be blamed when we face this aggression against our people, against our towns, our refugee camps, and we have the right to defend ourselves.'' Though the Palestinian statement said, ``From our side we are committed without conditions to the declaration of President Bush,'' Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said Bush's harsh criticism of Arafat was ``unjustified and unacceptable.'' In a statement at the White House Thursday, Bush said, ``The situation in which he (Arafat) finds himself today is largely of his own making,'' charging that Arafat had missed many opportunities and was not effective in fighting terrorism. Earlier, Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a statement welcoming the Bush initiative, saying, ``We note with satisfaction President Bush's words on the necessity to put an end to terror.'' Powell is expected to arrive in the region next week. Later Friday, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni is expected to meet Arafat, trapped in his office for a week by Israeli tanks and troops. After earlier rejecting a U.S. request to allow Zinni to see the Palestinian leader, Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to the meeting after seeing Zinni on Thursday.