U.S. Sets Summer Talks on Mideast
By Alan Sipress
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 3, 2002; Page A01
The Bush administration has begun planning for an international peace conference on the Middle East early this summer to accelerate negotiations over a final political settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced yesterday.
He said the gathering would take up not only political issues but also discussions over stemming violence by Arab militants and enhancing the economic prospects of the Palestinians.
At the same time, the conference would address the broader regional conflict with the aim of making progress on long-stalled peace talks between Israel and its northern neighbors, Syria and Lebanon, according to officials involved in discussions about the gathering.
Powell's announcement came after he met at the State Department with senior diplomats from the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, all of which will be involved in preparations for the conference and are expected to be its sponsors. The invitation list will include Israel, the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and perhaps other Middle Eastern countries, officials said.
The new U.S. effort to advance negotiations came on the same day that the House and Senate endorsed Israel's West Bank offensive against the Palestinians. They adopted the symbolic expression of support over administration warnings that this would hamstring its policy.
By proposing a new forum for simultaneous talks about political, security and economic measures, administration officials hope to bypass the stalemate between Israelis and Palestinians over the timing of political and security steps. The Palestinians are offered talks aimed at giving them their own state and the Israelis have a new opportunity to improve ties with other Arab governments.
While details about the conference remain sketchy, the decision to call one represents an effort to build momentum after Israel's recent withdrawal from most West Bank cities and the release of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from a month-long siege inside his compound in Ramallah.
"This is a time for prompt action to take advantage of this new window of opportunity that has been presented to us. And we intend to do just that," Powell said.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Foreign Minister Josep Pique of Spain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. The diplomats represent a new group, dubbed the quartet, which was formed last month during Powell's trip to the Middle East and Europe.
"The United States with our partners in the quartet will spend the weeks ahead to begin to not only talk amongst ourselves, but with the parties and with other interested members of the international community to come up with a set of principles that can be the basis for a meeting in the early summer," Powell said.
Powell's thinking is to convene the conference on the level of foreign ministers rather than presidents, prime ministers and kings, according to a senior State Department official. This would avert objections from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about meeting Arafat and from some Arab heads of state about meeting Israelis.
Officials said there was little discussion yesterday about where to convene the conference, though they said Europe is likely.
While U.S. officials have been reviewing whether to call a conference since the idea was raised with Powell by Israeli officials during his Middle East swing, the plan coalesced once he returned to Washington and discussed it with others in the administration, a senior State Department official said.
"This is not going to be a conference to make peace for everybody. This is a meeting at the ministerial level to make progress and move forward on the political track," the official said.
The difficulties with the earlier U.S. approach became increasingly clear during Powell's trip.
U.S. officials have long advocated the recommendations of an international committee headed by former senator George J. Mitchell (D-Maine), calling for an end to violence followed by steps to rebuild mutual confidence and finally talks about a political settlement.
But administration officials in recent weeks have seen little chance that the Palestinians would accept this sequence and recognized that Arafat's security forces, battered by the Israeli offensive, could not move effectively against militant groups.
But Sharon continued to say that he would not negotiate under fire, delaying political talks until the Palestinians cracked down on violence.
"When you can't solve the problem, broaden it," said a source familiar with administration discussions. "It provides political cover for the resumption of political contacts while violence is not entirely halted."
The proposed format also serves the administration's goal of enlisting allied European and Arab governments to pressure Arafat to address Israeli security concerns and make more compromises at the negotiating table. Bush officials have faulted the Clinton administration's mediation efforts for failing to involve other countries that have influence with the Palestinians.
Although the plan for a conference does not address the substance of the political dispute, it could help deflect criticism from Europe and the Arab world that the Bush administration has taken a hands-off approach to the Middle East conflict.
In his remarks, Powell set out the immediate task of rebuilding the capacity of Arafat's forces to police a cease-fire.
"We'll be encouraging Chairman Arafat to rebuild his security apparatus. We'll ask for maximum efforts from the Palestinian Authority to restore calm," he said.
He added that the international community has put a priority on assessing the state of the Palestinian security forces and helping them become effective, including fostering cooperation with their Israeli counterparts.
Powell said CIA Director George J. Tenet could play a role in this effort. But other officials said Tenet is reluctant to visit the region because prospects are dim for restarting security cooperation after the Israeli offensive.
U.S. officials, including President Bush, have been placing new emphasis on reforming the Palestinians' security forces and ministries as they are reestablished.
"A Palestinian state must be achieved by negotiating an end to occupation, but such a state cannot be based on a foundation of terror or corruption," Bush said at the White House.
"A Palestinian state must be based on the principles that are critical to freedom and prosperity: democracy and open markets, the rule of law, transparent and accountable administration, and respect for individual liberties and civil society."
Officials said they expected the conference to figure prominently in Bush's discussions next week with Sharon, who visits the White House on Tuesday, and with Jordan's King Abdullah a day later.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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