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U.S. Wants Arafat to Lead Palestinians Towards Another Leader
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| Israeli
tanks rolled through Nablus as the State Department defended
and clarified Bush's statements concerning change of
Palestinian leadership
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By
Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON,
June 26 (IslamOnline) – Although Palestinian President Yasser Arafat
will not be absolved of his leadership responsibilities in light of
U.S. President George W. Bush’s call for new leadership, U.S.
officials hope that out of forthcoming reforms in the Palestinian
infrastructure, another Palestinian leader will emerge to work
successfully with their peace process.
“We
need a Palestinian leadership that we can work with,” said State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Tuesday, June 25. “The
current leadership… it’s not working for the Palestinian
people.”
Bush’s
speech on Monday, June 24, called for Palestinians “to elect new
leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build
a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty,” making
American support for their efforts towards a Palestinian state
dependent on these conditions.
His
statement has been explained by officials as retaining expectations
for the current Palestinian leadership, but also as expressing the
opinion that the current leadership did not have the capacity to
fulfill the expectations towards the solution he envisioned in his
speech.
"Certainly
[Arafat] is not absolved of responsibility," Boucher said,
addressing reporters at a press briefing. "He's currently in a
leadership position.”
However,
“our expectations of the current institutions and leadership are not
such that we would envision that kind of circumstance... where
suddenly they would create the institutions that can go into the
future with a Palestinian state," he said.
Boucher
said that the U.S. was not passing judgment on anyone’s leadership
ability - “it’s a fact… this has not brought the Palestinian
people where they want to go,” he said. “We’ve made it clear…
that this requires new institutions and new leaders.”
He
said that the U.S. was not questioning the right of the Palestinian
people to choose their own leaders, but insisted that “if you
continue down this path, with these institutions and these leaders,
you’re not going to get a Palestinian state.”
The
spokesman also said that he was “not questioning the leaders” who
were in place; “it’s not a matter of saying, you can’t do this
until there’s a new leader… yes, they may be a part of the present
structure as things go forward.”
But
later, he said that “the leaders need to be different… the people
need to be different.”
A
senior State Department official acknowledged that any confusion about
the U.S. plan could be attributed to the fact that the plan was not
entirely formed.
“We’re
not all set… the ambiguity is in the situation,” the official said
on condition of anonymity, adding that the “first step is on the
Palestinian side.” He explained that whatever was said about new
leadership, nothing would be directed explicitly towards the removal
of Arafat.
When
asked what incentive Arafat would have to proceed with reforming his
government if neither he nor his administration were expected to
remain in power, the official said, “a Palestinian state.”
In
response to questions by reporters regarding the ability of the
Palestinian people to actually hold a fair and free election while
under foreign military occupation, Boucher said, “That has to be a
hypothetical question,” adding that he hoped “that the question
wouldn’t arise.”
And
when asked about U.S. expectations for Israeli concessions, Boucher
would only say, “As things start to happen in one direction, in the
other direction things [will] start to happen.”
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