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Powell Meets With Arab-American Group
WASHINGTON, May 6 (News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a largely Arab-American audience at an award ceremony here Saturday that the United States would continue to be "deeply engaged" in efforts to lower the level of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.
Both he and President George W. Bush were "deeply engaged on a daily basis in trying to lower the level of violence, to restore a measure of trust between the two sides," Powell said.
"The United States is sponsoring security dialogues between the parties at two levels," he said. "We are working with both parties, [and] with the Egyptians, the Jordanians, on a proposal for future negotiations."
Powell said that as part of his efforts to keep in close touch with leaders in the region, he spoke "every few days" with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"One can become frustrated, and one can say: 'It's easy to walk away from this' and lose hope," he said. "But we cannot walk away. We must not walk away, and we will not lose hope. President Bush will not turn away nor will I."
"This is a conflict that benefits no one. This is a conflict that destroys families, that destroys children, that destroys the future of all parties in the region."
He said the relaxation of restrictions affecting Palestinian economic activities would be indispensable to a resumed peace process. "We are working hard to remove barriers that exist in trade and access to jobs. Only then we will be able to move back to negotiations."
On Iraq, Powell reiterated that the United States wanted to keep arms control sanctions in place, but in a revised form.
Although Powell said he rejected the Iraqi government's attempts to blame United Nations' sanctions for the problems facing the people in that country, "nevertheless we are going to work with the United Nations and our Arab friends to revise the sanctions policy so that it is directed exclusively at preventing Iraq from a military build-up and developing weapons of mass-destruction, and to do it in a way that does not hurt the people of Iraq."
Powell was speaking at a ceremony organized by the Arab American Institute Foundation, in which the British singer Sting was among those receiving awards for their contributions to the "spirit of humanity".
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