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Washington Committed To Moving U.S. Embassy In Israel To Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, March 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated Wednesday to the International Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that President George W. Bush was committed to moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The news was welcomed by Israelis on Friday but also prompted dismay from the Arab world.
Washington still remains committed at this time to moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed Friday.
"There is no change in the U.S. policy," Boucher said, backing Powell's statement.
Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for new Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Friday, "we can only welcome such declarations."
But Arab reaction was harsh, with Powell accused by Jordan's Al-Dustour newspaper of making "provocative" statements that, according to another Jordanian daily, Al-Rai, threaten to kill off the already moribund Middle East peace process.
Al-Rai, which often reflects official Jordanian government opinion, said, "such an American position means first and foremost shooting the final bullet into the peace process."
In response to when Bush was intending to order the move, Powell had said, "the process is ongoing. We have not started any actions yet, and in light of the very difficult situation that exists right now, we'll continue to examine how that process should start."
"But it does remain [Bush's] commitment to move the embassy to the capital of Israel, which is Jerusalem," added Powell, touching on a very thorny issue between the Israelis and Palestinians in the stalled Middle East process.
Gissin said the relocation of the embassy "would constitute an international recognition of the fact that Jerusalem is the eternal, reunified and indivisible capital of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
It "would be a positive initiative that could only reinforce our presence in Jerusalem."
The international community does not recognize Israel's claims over all of Jerusalem, the Arab eastern part of which it captured and illegally, according to the U.N., annexed in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Palestinians stand firm in their belief that east Jerusalem, which contains Islam's third holiest site and Judaism's most sacred shrine, must be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Jordan's Al-Rai said Powell's statements called for "vigilance, astonishment and denunciation."
Stressing that Jerusalem is "they key and symbol to peace," the paper said that if Powell's statements became official U.S. policy, it would set the clock back on the peace process "in line with the policies of [Sharon's] hostile government.
In Saudi Arabia, the Al-Madina newspaper urged Arab countries to "respond in a suitable manner to Powell's words.
"If Powell's words shocked the members of the Arab and Islamic nations, the response must also shock, if not more," the paper said.
Qatar, the acting head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said Powell's remarks were "a negative factor preventing the establishment of a fair and comprehensive peace in the region, in so far as the United States is the principal sponsor of the peace process."
The Muslim World League, based in the western Saudi city of Mecca, called on Washington "not to follow Jewish and Zionist aspirations at a time when the United States publicly defends human rights."
"The United States must keep the friendship of Islamic governments because any partiality from Washington will further complicate the conflict and block efforts to establish peace in the Middle East," the non-governmental think tank said in a statement published by the official SPA news agency.
The Emirati paper Al-Khaleej said "Arab countries must respond to these programmed U.S. attacks, which will increase if Arabs remain silent."
"Arabs are urged to adopt a unified position on the new U.S. administration, especially after Powell's words," it said.
Speaking ahead of his investiture as prime minister, Sharon called Jerusalem the Jewish people's "eternal" capital, but diverted from a prepared text that had described it as the "united eternal capital of Israel under our sovereignty".
In response, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said: "When I heard the speech I immediately felt there was a problem," adding that it was "what I did not hear."
A senior U.S. official, requesting anonymity, said the U.S. Congress considers Jerusalem Israel's capital and has always maintained the embassy should be relocated there. Former president Bill Clinton allowed the Jerusalem Embassy Act passed by Congress to become law without signing or vetoing the bill
"The administrations have successively said, 'yes' but at the right time, and it has never been the right time. And I don't think it's the right time either," the official added.
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