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Peres, Powell See Violence Blocking Mideast Talks
WASHINGTON, May 2 (News Agencies) - Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said here Wednesday that violence was jeopardizing attempts to restart peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
"Right now the situation is worrying. There is no end to terror and violence, which overshadows the real need to start again the negotiations," Peres told reporters following an hour-long meeting here with his U.S. counterpart.
Powell, for his part, said levels of violence needed "to start going down" to create the right conditions for the peace process resume.
He noted that Washington was adopting a wait-and-see attitude to the peace initiative put forward by Egypt and Jordan.
He had discussed with Peres that initiative and "the negotiations that might be, in the future, as a result," Powell said. "It is the beginning of a dialogue, but, of course, that dialogue cannot really get under way until violence is brought down, brought significantly down."
The reduction of violence was the "primary goal of American policy at this moment," Powell said.
Peres, a former Israeli prime minister and former Labor Party leader, on Sunday held talks in Cairo with President Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. At a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday he presented the Israeli government's initial "remarks" on the Jordanian-Egyptian plan. These were not made public.
However an initial announcement by Mubarak at the weekend of a Palestinian-Israeli "ceasefire" proved ill founded.
Peres in Washington appeared to hint at some frustration with the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, of which he had been a co-sponsor: "We set the following principles," he said. "Everything that was agreed [in previous accords] should be implemented. Things that are not agreed should be negotiated. You cannot put in a paper agreements before negotiations."
In any resumed peace process, Peres said he favored "face-to-face" negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in which Washington would act as "a facilitator, not a negotiator."
Powell said that he had discussed with Peres "the controversial issue of growth and expansion of existing settlements." It was a topic that "both sides will have to talk about in due course."
Peres said that while the present Israeli government had already said that no new Israeli settlements would be created in the West Bank or Gaza, policy towards existing settlements should be discussed "around the negotiating table."
Meanwhile, the State Department on Wednesday condemned the incursion by Israeli soldiers into the autonomous Palestinian sector of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, saying such actions undermined peace efforts.
State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker likewise urged the Palestinian authorities to put an end to mortar attacks from areas under their control.
"Actions such as the Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas - and that includes the incursion into Rafah today and the bulldozing of Palestinian buildings - undermine efforts to defuse the situation and bring an end to the violence and escalation," Reeker said.
Israeli troops shot dead one Palestinian and wounded 10 others overnight inside the Rafah sector in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers had entered several meters (yards) into the sector backed by tanks and bulldozers, which razed 17 houses before withdrawing, a Palestinian security official said.
The Israeli army said the operation was an "act of legitimate defense" after their soldiers came under grenade and gun attack Tuesday in the same area.
In a related development, Peres said he would meet here with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim al-Thani.
"It won't be the first, it won't be the last," Peres said of the anticipated encounter. But he did not specify when or where the encounter with the Qatari foreign minister would take place.
"We hope that our relations will improve with time," Peres added.
Powell, who met with the Qatari foreign minister Wednesday, said he "was aware of the meeting," although he did not arrange it.
Qatar, which currently holds the Organization of the Islamic Conference presidency, does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
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