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Friday, August 9, 2002 - Web posted at 9:43:55 am GMT Palestinians say Sharon out to undermine US talksJERUSALEM, Aug 9 (Reuters) - An aide to Yasser Arafat on Friday called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's branding of the Palestinian Authority a "murderous gang" an attempt to undermine high-level U.S.-Palestinian talks. Three Palestinian cabinet ministers met Secretary of State Colin Powell and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice on Thursday, pledging new efforts to end 22 months of Middle East violence. But the two sides remained at odds over U.S. President George W. Bush's call in June for Palestinians to replace Arafat, their elected president, with a new leadership. Palestinian ministers also sought a firm timetable to statehood. In a nationally televised speech that political commentators said was aimed at shoring up his popularity after a surge in Palestinian attacks, Sharon called on Israelis not to give in to "feelings of helplessness". An opinion poll published in Israel's biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday showed that public confidence in Sharon's leadership had dropped by nine percentage points, to 57 percent, over the past month. "Between us and the goal (of peace) stands the gang of murder, terror and corruption of the Palestinian Authority," Sharon said in a televised speech. "The only way to peace demands this murderous gang be uprooted from its political positions," he said. Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, an aide to Arafat, called Sharon and his government "a coalition of terror and a gang of killers". He said Sharon made the speech with the talks in Washington in mind. "He wanted to intimidate the Americans and to warn them against reaching any agreement with the Palestinian delegation," Abdel-Rahman told Reuters. The Washington talks followed a renewed round of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue on easing the army's grip on occupied Gaza and parts of the West Bank. That also failed to yield breakthroughs. Israel had proposed troop pullbacks in areas where Palestinians agree to cooperate to reduce violence in their 22-month-old uprising for independence. Speaking to reporters after the talks at the State Department, Powell said: "I reaffirmed to (Palestinian) ministers that the president is committed to doing everything possible to find a way forward." Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he was assured during the talks that "the end game is specified with a Palestinian state. We really hope to see an action plan that will define the timeline" for independence. The Palestinian ministers were also expected to meet Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet on security issues during the visit. Bush called on Palestinians in June to choose a new leader in elections and introduce democratic reforms to the Palestinian Authority as a condition for moving towards peacemaking and statehood in the West Bank and Gaza. He said the new leadership should not "be compromised by terror". In a raid in the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Friday, the Israeli army said it detained four Palestinians "involved in terrorist activity" and found an explosives belt of the type worn by suicide bombers in the house where they were arrested. At least 1,490 Palestinians and 585 Israelis have been killed since Palestinians began an uprising in September 2000 after peace talks on establishing a Palestinian state stalled. Nampa-Reuters 0908 090802 WEB story ENDS (NAMPA 090911) |
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