Pressure mounts on Bush to pursue Mid-East peace

By: BARRY SCHWEID

WASHINGTON - Apart from President George W Bush's reassurances of unwavering support for Palestinian statehood, there is little his administration is set to do in the short term to try to break the Middle East deadlock.

Administration strategists, wrestling with one of the biggest

international problems Bush will face in his next four years in

office, seem convinced that serious progress toward that goal is

going to take some time.

First off, they must wait out Yasser Arafat's possibly terminal

illness and then gauge whether his successors can maintain calm and

provide Israel with a partner for negotiations.

 

Second, the most promising opening for peacemaking -- Israeli

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's projected withdrawal from Gaza and

part of the West Bank -- is not due to begin until next year.

 

The plan also requires final approval by the Israeli

government.

 

Palestinian groups that have levelled deadly attacks on Israeli

civilians could sabotage that opening, and it will take time to

know whether new Palestinian leaders will handcuff them.

 

Both Bush and Sharon are loath to start negotiations amid

violence.

 

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made clear

on Friday that the US-backed "road map", and not some new approach,

remains the administration's vehicle for getting to the peace

table.

 

"The kind of steps that have been identified to get there are

the steps that we will continue to encourage," he said.

 

These include demands that violent groups be controlled, Israeli

outposts be removed from the West Bank and Israeli settlement

activity be suspended.

 

As American strategists consider their moves, Bush is coming

under increased pressure from European allies to assume a more

aggressive posture.

 

After speaking with Bush by telephone Wednesday, British Prime

Minister Tony Blair, the president's closest ally in Iraq, said

working toward Israeli-Palestinian peace was "the single most

pressing political challenge in our world today".

 

"Therefore, we must be relentless in our war against terrorism

and in resolving the conditions and causes on which the terrorists

prey," Blair said.

 

"We should work with President Bush on this agenda.

 

It is one which all nations of goodwill would surely agree."

 

Richard N Haass, who headed the State Department's policy

planning office for more than two years of Bush's first term, said

on Friday that "you need a Palestinian partner to make Israel

comfortable with the withdrawal and to make it work."

 

Haass said Bush should send a letter to the Palestinians with

assurances of support on a number of tough issues, including that

the Israeli-held territory that would become a Palestinian state

would be contiguous, and there should be compensation in money or

territory for not resettling Palestinian refugees in Israel.

 

The letter would parallel the one Bush gave Sharon earlier in

the year in which the president supported Israel's retention of

Jewish settlements near its border and rejected Palestinian claims

that refugees have a right to return to Israel.

 

Haass, who also directed Middle East policy at the National

Security Council for the first President Bush, said he would not

recommend this president take a position on Jerusalem's future.

 

Relative calm has prevailed during Arafat's illness as the

Palestinians set up a sort of co-operative structure keyed to

Mahmoud Abbas, known popularly as Abu Mazen, and Ahmed Qureia,

familiarly known as Abu Ala.

 

The Bush administration hopes the calm they have been able to

maintain will continue, a senior US official said.

 

And, speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the

administration also hoped that fledgling Palestinian government

institutions would develop.

 

On the Israeli side, officials said there are some 50 terror

alerts a day, and the relative calm is due to interception by

Israeli forces of would-be attackers.

 

James Phillips, Middle East specialist at the Heritage

Foundation, said Arafat has "really poisoned the atmosphere for

prospective peace talks, promising so many things and failing to

deliver so often, he eroded Israeli trust in a Palestinian

negotiating partner".

 

"Hopefully, after he passes from the scene the Palestinians can

develop a more constructive approach than Arafat's disastrous

strategy," Phillips said in an interview.

 

The onus for reviving the stalled peace process should be on the

Palestinians and not on the United States, he said.

 

Edward S Walker, a former US ambassador to Egypt and Israel,

said the first step the administration should take is to send an

emissary to Arafat's funeral and while in the area to sound out

Abbas and Qureia to "take the pulse" and also to talk to Sharon in

Israel.

 

Also, Walker, now president of the Middle East Institute in

Washington, said in an interview, the so-called Quartet that

produced the road map for peacemaking --- the United States, United

Nations, European Union and Russia -- should meet to reinvigorate

the blueprint and show that it is still alive.

 

- Nampa-AP * Barry Schweid is diplomatic correspondent for The

Associated Press.

 

First off, they must wait out Yasser Arafat's possibly terminal

illness and then gauge whether his successors can maintain calm and

provide Israel with a partner for negotiations.Second, the most

promising opening for peacemaking -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel

Sharon's projected withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank

-- is not due to begin until next year.The plan also requires final

approval by the Israeli government.Palestinian groups that have

levelled deadly attacks on Israeli civilians could sabotage that

opening, and it will take time to know whether new Palestinian

leaders will handcuff them.Both Bush and Sharon are loath to start

negotiations amid violence.Meanwhile, State Department spokesman

Richard Boucher made clear on Friday that the US-backed "road map",

and not some new approach, remains the administration's vehicle for

getting to the peace table."The kind of steps that have been

identified to get there are the steps that we will continue to

encourage," he said.These include demands that violent groups be

controlled, Israeli outposts be removed from the West Bank and

Israeli settlement activity be suspended.As American strategists

consider their moves, Bush is coming under increased pressure from

European allies to assume a more aggressive posture.After speaking

with Bush by telephone Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony

Blair, the president's closest ally in Iraq, said working toward

Israeli-Palestinian peace was "the single most pressing political

challenge in our world today"."Therefore, we must be relentless in

our war against terrorism and in resolving the conditions and

causes on which the terrorists prey," Blair said."We should work

with President Bush on this agenda.It is one which all nations of

goodwill would surely agree."Richard N Haass, who headed the State

Department's policy planning office for more than two years of

Bush's first term, said on Friday that "you need a Palestinian

partner to make Israel comfortable with the withdrawal and to make

it work."Haass said Bush should send a letter to the Palestinians

with assurances of support on a number of tough issues, including

that the Israeli-held territory that would become a Palestinian

state would be contiguous, and there should be compensation in

money or territory for not resettling Palestinian refugees in

Israel.The letter would parallel the one Bush gave Sharon earlier

in the year in which the president supported Israel's retention of

Jewish settlements near its border and rejected Palestinian claims

that refugees have a right to return to Israel.Haass, who also

directed Middle East policy at the National Security Council for

the first President Bush, said he would not recommend this

president take a position on Jerusalem's future.Relative calm has

prevailed during Arafat's illness as the Palestinians set up a sort

of co-operative structure keyed to Mahmoud Abbas, known popularly

as Abu Mazen, and Ahmed Qureia, familiarly known as Abu Ala.The

Bush administration hopes the calm they have been able to maintain

will continue, a senior US official said.And, speaking on condition

of anonymity, he said the administration also hoped that fledgling

Palestinian government institutions would develop.On the Israeli

side, officials said there are some 50 terror alerts a day, and the

relative calm is due to interception by Israeli forces of would-be

attackers.James Phillips, Middle East specialist at the Heritage

Foundation, said Arafat has "really poisoned the atmosphere for

prospective peace talks, promising so many things and failing to

deliver so often, he eroded Israeli trust in a Palestinian

negotiating partner"."Hopefully, after he passes from the scene the

Palestinians can develop a more constructive approach than Arafat's

disastrous strategy," Phillips said in an interview.The onus for

reviving the stalled peace process should be on the Palestinians

and not on the United States, he said.Edward S Walker, a former US

ambassador to Egypt and Israel, said the first step the

administration should take is to send an emissary to Arafat's

funeral and while in the area to sound out Abbas and Qureia to

"take the pulse" and also to talk to Sharon in Israel.Also, Walker,

now president of the Middle East Institute in Washington, said in

an interview, the so-called Quartet that produced the road map for

peacemaking --- the United States, United Nations, European Union

and Russia -- should meet to reinvigorate the blueprint and show

that it is still alive.- Nampa-AP * Barry Schweid is diplomatic

correspondent for The Associated Press.

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