|
U.S.
Preparing Return Of Zinni To The Middle East
 |
| Palestinians
need protection from Israeli soldiers’ aggression |
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, Dec. 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States is
preparing for the return of its Middle East envoy, Anthony Zinni, news agencies
reported Sunday, December 30.
U.S.
officials had stepped up contacts with both Israel and the Palestinians with a
view to launching a new round of shuttle diplomacy between the two sides in the
new year, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Zinni's
arrival in the region November 26 coincided with a spate of Palestinian martyr
operations and fierce Israeli counter-attacks on symbols of Palestinian
President, Yasser Arafat's authority.
Israel
has killed more than 60 Palestinian activists from different resistance
movements in an assassination policy adopted and approved by the Israeli cabinet
and highly condemned by the international community.
According
to Israel's daily newspaper, Ha'aretz, a senior Palestinian source has said that
the (George W.) Bush administration's special envoy to the Middle East, Anthony
Zinni, is due to arrive in the region Wednesday for a second round of mediation
efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Israeli
sources, however, estimate that the retired Marine general will not arrive
before the end of the week, Ha'aretz reported.
Zinni will be accompanied on his mission by Assistant Secretary of State for the
Middle East, William Burns, and another American diplomat, Aaron Miller.
A
diplomatic source in Israel assessed that the U.S. administration will not end
Zinni's mission because Washington wants to avoid terming its effort a
"failure," Ha'aretz added.
Following Zinni’s recall, Arafat – virtually put under house arrest in
Ramallah by Israeli occupation forces – called for a halt to anti-Israeli
attacks. Consequently, the region, shaken by 15 months of Al-Aqsa Intifada, has
seen relative calm.
A
statement by the Palestinian leadership Saturday called for a "quick return
of Zinni and his team to proceed to the application of the Mitchell plan and the
Tenet memorandum."
The
Mitchell plan calls for an end to violence and the implementation of
confidence-building measures, a complete freeze of the building of Jewish
settlements and a return to peace talks. The Tenet plan is a blueprint for
implementing a ceasefire.
Israeli
Defense Minister, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, said at the same time that the
Palestinians were on the right path toward the implementation of the Mitchell
plan.
U.S.
State Department has said Zinni would only return to the region when he and
Secretary of State, Colin Powell, believe his presence would be effective in
bringing about a ceasefire.
Powell
spoke by telephone Friday with both Arafat and hawkish Israeli premier, Ariel
Sharon, State Department spokesman, Philip Reeker, said in Washington, AFP
reported.
Asked about the possibility of Zinni returning to the Middle East, Reeker noted
recent remarks by Powell that the situation in the region would first have to
improve.
Meanwhile,
a Palestinian woman died of a head wound Saturday, nine days after she was hurt
in a struggle as Israeli border police raided her home, family and hospital
sources said.
Nujud
Ghonam, 26, died of a brain hemorrhage, according to a hospital report.
She
was hospitalized after an Israeli policeman knocked her unconscious with the
butt of his rifle during a struggle to free her brother, the family said.
According
to Israel's occupation army, the border police entered the house in the West
Bank village of Al-Khadr on the edge of Bethlehem early December 20 to arrest
Ghonam’s brother after he and three others allegedly threw Molotov cocktails
at an Israeli outpost.
Her
death brings the number of people killed since Al-Aqsa Intifada to 1,118,
including 862 Palestinians -- the majority being children and teenagers -- and
233 Israelis.
In
another development Saturday, dozens of western protesters and Palestinian
students dismantled parts of an Israeli military checkpoint near Ramallah on the
West Bank of the Jordan River.
The
demonstrators pushed aside concrete barriers and at one point set a small hut on
fire.
Israeli
soldiers responded with tear gas, driving away the demonstrators, who were
demanding the lifting of the checkpoint outside Bir Zeit University, the leading
Palestinian University. No injuries or arrests were reported.
Israel
said Friday it was lifting a blockade of Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem.
But soldiers remained Saturday at the checkpoints
on the edge of the town, examining identity documents of Palestinians and
everyone else seeking to enter or leave the town.
|
