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Pastimes : Prophecy -- HYPE or HOPE? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SOROS who wrote (1547)	5/30/2002 7:53:11 AM
From: JeffA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5569

White House plan would create Palestinian state By Laurence McQuillan, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The United States is working on a Middle East peace proposal that would include creating an independent Palestinian state, senior administration officials said Wednesday. Such a plan would go a step further than the previous United States position, which was merely to endorse the idea. Officials say they hope the U.S. proposal, which would offer guidelines for dealing with some of the most nagging problems that divide the two sides, would be unveiled by July. The administration has been trying to set up a Middle East conference that month to discuss peace efforts. Administration officials said trips to the region this week by CIA Director George Tenet and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns are intended to get feedback from Arab leaders on possible guidelines for a peace plan. Burns arrived in Egypt on Wednesday. Tenet departs to meet with Palestinian and Israeli officials and Arab leaders Friday night. Both men are expected to return to Washington by late next week, in time to brief President Bush before a two-day summit at Camp David with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak has been a dependable United States ally, is influential among the leaders of Arab countries and is trusted by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Senior administration officials said Bush will unveil broad guidelines on the disputes that divide the Israelis and Palestinians but expects the two sides to reach their own compromises on details. What one official called "the American version of how to get out of this" will focus on key stumbling blocks that have thwarted previous attempts to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and will prescribe: Establishing permanent borders for a Palestinian state on the West Bank and in Gaza. Establishing a security system in which both sides believe they are not threatened by the other. The main focus would be on creating a unified command for Palestinian security forces, which are fragmented and include militant anti-Israel factions. Addressing the issue of more than a million Palestinians refugees, some of them living in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Many were forced to move when Israel was created in 1948, and they say they should be allowed to return. The Jewish state rejects the idea as a threat to its existence. Agreeing on control of Jerusalem, an ancient city that contains sacred religious sites for both sides. Israelis and Palestinians both want their political capitals located there. Bush believes Arafat has failed to take steps to clamp down on suicide bombings in Israel. That discontent, however, will not prompt the United States to turn to other leaders or to promote Arafat's ouster, as some administrations officials have recommended, White House officials said. Instead, intense efforts are underway behind the scenes to enlist the support of Arab leaders to pressure Arafat to rein in militants. Administration officials say they hope that the U.S. proposal will start to take shape during the session with Mubarak, who has been a moderate voice among Arab leaders. The two-day session at Camp David begins June 7.