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Powell said he would move for peace |
AMMAN,
April 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell said Thursday night that the United States would move
aggressively to end the Middle East violence, as Israel claimed a
partial troop withdrawal, believed to be an act of publicity.
"We
look forward to move aggressively with respect to political
action," Powell said at a joint press conference with his
Jordanian counterpart Marwan Moasher, before heading to Israel,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Powell
vowed to "move aggressively to get a political track started so
that security is restored ... while confidence is being built up as
provided for in Tenet and Mitchell."
That
was a reference to the two peace plans drawn up last year to end the
18-month-old Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation and to
restore the so-called peace process.
"The
political process in Mitchell has to be accelerated and extended to
show the Palestinian people that there is hope out there for them to
have their own state side by side with Israel," Powell said.
Powell
also said he hoped to discuss with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Friday his "schedule and plans" for completing a troop
withdrawal from the Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile,
the Israeli army claimed late Thursday it pulled out of more West Bank
towns and villages.
The
assumed pull-out came in a statement from Sharon’s office. The
statement did not specify the number or provide any names of the
localities.
"As
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon informed U.S. President George W. Bush a
number of days ago, when the missions that the government has decided
upon are completed, the army will also withdraw from other
locations," the statement said.
For
its part, the Palestinian leadership denounced the alleged pull-backs
as a mere public relations exercise, saying that the West Bank
remained under siege as Israel pressed ahead with its campaign despite
U.S. calls for an immediate withdrawal.
The
Palestinians called the pull-out Thursday from 24 villages and towns
"a big lie."
Earlier
Thursday, a few hours before the arrival of Powell, Sharon said that
his army would remain in occupied Palestinian towns "until the
terrorists surrender.”
Israel
brands legal Palestinian resistance against occupation as terrorism.
"I've
warned the Americans that the Israeli army will not withdraw from
Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah until all the terrorists there
have surrendered," he said.
For
his part, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the operation
could last up to three weeks, with Israeli officials warning that
leaving without smashing Palestinian resistance infrastructures would
mean an even more costly return later.
The
army claimed it moved out of two dozen villages while taking up
positions in other towns and continuing to patrol the main hotspots of
Jenin, Nablus in the north and Ramallah and Bethlehem in the center.
