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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (284856)	8/8/2002 2:37:08 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 769670

Rice Meets With Palestinians Thu Aug 8,11:42 AM ET By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration hopes to find promises of democracy and reform within the Palestinian movement in meetings with three Cabinet ministers appointed by Yasser Arafat ( news - web sites). AP Photo AP Photo Slideshow: Mideast Conflict Palestinian Authority Agrees To Israeli Proposal (AP Video) Condoleezza Rice ( news - web sites), President Bush ( news - web sites)'s national security adviser, met first with the ministers, with Secretary of State Colin Powell ( news - web sites) to follow, in an attempt to assess prospects for a makeover of the Palestinian Authority ( news - web sites). The head of the delegation, Saeb Erekat, said before Thursday's meetings that the administration should help prod Israel and the Palestinians into a settlement. "You need a third party," Erekat told reporters. "We will do the negotiations, Israel and the Palestinians. But we need a third party to vouch for what either said." Anything but Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and part of Jerusalem to make way for a Palestinian state is unacceptable, Erekat said. The three Cabinet officers were appointed to their posts in June by Arafat. Powell has praised two of them as being reform-minded. But Erekat, responding to Bush's demand for Arafat's ouster, said "that cannot be acceptable." Arafat is the elected president of the Palestinian people and the alternative to him is chaos, Erekat said. "Where do you think I come from — from Mars?" Erekat asked at a news conference, underscoring Arafat remained in charge. "I am part of President Arafat's leadership." Erekat said all Palestinian police stations on the West Bank have been demolished, 6,279 Palestinian police were in jail and the 3.3 million Palestinian people on the West Bank "are living in the biggest prison in the world" and "are on the brink of starvation." Bush accuses Arafat of failing to stop terror attacks on Israel. Bush is asking for democratic reform as a prerequisite to establishing a Palestinian state within three years. But Erekat said the Palestinian leadership was elected by the people. "I hope this will be a matter for the Palestinian people, and not others," he said. Powell last month praised the two other Palestinians, Finance Minister Salam Faiad and Interior Minister Abdel Razak al-Yehiyeh, as forces working to transform the Palestinian Authority. story.news.yahoo.com