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Powell Talks Of ‘Progress’, Fresh Israeli Incursions
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Powell claimed he made
progress
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RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed he was making "progress" in hashing out an elusive Middle East ceasefire Tuesday, while a Palestinian minister rejected Powell's comments, as “progress” was impossible without an Israeli withdrawal from West Bank cities.
Powell, expected to leave the region Wednesday, also acknowledged that any final deal could fall short of an actual truce to stop 18 months of Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation.
"I don't want to get into specifics as to what I'll be able to achieve and not be able to achieve," he told reporters. "I think we're making progress and I look forward to furthering that progress over the next 24 hours," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A senior State Department official said Powell was expected to end his peace mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Wednesday, and stop off in Egypt on the way home.
Rejecting Powell’s comments, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said, "Before talking of progress in any talks ... there has to be an implementation of the UN resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal from all towns, villages and refugee camps occupied by the Israeli army".
Abed Rabbo said a pullback by Israeli forces from Palestinian towns taken by Israeli forces "is necessary and must precede any declaration about progress being made."
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Israeli aggressions against Palestinians are still going
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The United Nations Security Council late last month passed resolution 1402, calling "upon both parties to move immediately to a meaningful ceasefire" and for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities.
Ignoring the simple fact that occupation is the only cause of violence, the Israelis claimed that since a ceasefire is mentioned before a pullback, a truce must first be agreed up before it leaves the cities it occupied.
For their part, the Palestinians said no ceasefire is possible as long as Israeli troops remain on the streets of the autonomous West Bank towns.
On the ground, Israeli occupation tanks rolled into three Palestinian suburbs of Jerusalem and re-entered a West Bank city Tuesday, a day after hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised his closest, and maybe only ally, the United States he would withdraw soldiers from most Palestinian areas by next week.
Powell, nearing the end of his peace mission, would like to nail down at least one solid gain. But Sharon vowed to keep Israeli troops in Ramallah and Bethlehem until (allegedly) wanted Palestinians holed up there surrender.
Before dawn Tuesday, Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled into Abu Dis, Izzariyeh and Sawahra As-Sharkiyeh, three suburbs of Jerusalem. Troops declared a curfew, confining tens of thousands of residents to their homes.
Abu Dis resident Amjad Bader said 12 armored personnel carriers entered his neighborhood at about 2 a.m. Tuesday - a first since Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war.
Palestinian Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia, who lives in Abu Dis, said the raids belied Sharon's pledge Monday to begin pulling back soldiers.
"What is needed is ... to stop these incursions and to withdraw immediately from Palestinian cities and villages," Qureia said. "Unfortunately, these incursions are taking place while Secretary Powell is in the country."
Early Tuesday, Israeli troops also re-entered Tulkarem, one of two towns evacuated April 9. Witnesses said tanks drove in from four directions, covered by attack helicopters. The Israeli military said the incursion was aimed at making arrests, not reoccupying the town. Troops left by midmorning, witnesses said.
In Nablus, troops continued abduct sweeps Tuesday. In the Raffidiyeh area of Nablus, troops ordered men out of apartment buildings and took them to an area school, witnesses said. Among those detained and handcuffed was journalist Mohammed Daraghmeh, who covered the northern West Bank for The Associated Press since 1996.
The AP protested Daraghmeh's detention. In response, Dan Seaman, director of Israel's Government Press Office, said that "there's no immunity for journalists. He (Daraghmeh) is a Palestinian, and he was arrested like thousands of other Palestinians. He'll be questioned, and if there's no problem, he'll be released."
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