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Burns Starts Mideast Tour, U.S. Lashes Israel Over Killing Palestinian Civilians

William Burns

CAIRO, October 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns held talks Saturday October 19, with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the U.S. stepped up pressure on Israel over the deaths of Palestinian civilians.

The meeting marked the beginning of a 12-stage tour of the region which is also expected to cover the question of Iraq, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday October 16, after meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that he was sending Burns back to the region to try to revive negotiations after two years of bitter fighting which has no end in sight.

To lay the groundwork for his trip, Burns met on Thursday and Friday in Paris with representatives from the Middle East quartet committee, grouping Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, to break the current impasse in the Middle East peace process.

They discussed a U.S.-backed roadmap for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict initially drawn up by the quartet last month.

The plan calls for establishing an interim Palestinian state before the end of 2003, said Haaretz on Saturday October 19 on its website.

Shortly thereafter, the draft plan calls for both sides to begin negotiations for a permanent agreement, including final borders, to be completed by 2005.

The draft presses Israel to cease military activity and house demolitions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip within the next two months, with closures being lifted in addition to halting expropriation of Palestinian lands.

The U.S. also demands that Israel dismantle all of the settlement outposts that were established during Sharon's tenure as prime minister.

The Palestinians, according to the plan, have to issue a clear statement recognizing Israel's right to exist and stop "violence" against Israel.

The Palestinians will also be required to begin composing a constitution for their new state.

The second phase of the plan, which will take effect in December, will require Israel to freeze building of all settlements, including those whose population expands naturally.

As the security co-operation increases, the Israeli army will gradually withdraw from areas under the control of the PA and by May 2003 will take up positions that were held prior to the outbreak of the intifada.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Mubarak, Burns said, "We're working with our partners in the quartet, also with our closest friends in the region and with the parties themselves to try and develop a tangible, concrete set of ideas that can make the vision that Bush laid out of two states a reality".

This came as Washington laid pressures on Israel to rein in its military hours before Burns held talks with Mubarak, joining a chorus of global outrage over Israel's killing of six Palestinian civilians during an Israeli raid in the southern Gaza Strip.

"We are deeply concerned by reports that civilians and children were among those killed and injured" during the raid in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, said Anne Marks, a State Department spokeswoman.

"The government of Israel should formally investigate the circumstances of these incidents, review its procedures and should take all appropriate measures to avoid civilian causalities in their operations," she said.

Six Palestinians, including two elderly women and two children, were killed in Rafah on Thursday October 17, when Israeli tanks shelled the town after coming under rocket fire, sparking international outrage over what was deemed an excessive use of force.

The bloodshed pulled the rug out on Sharon as he finished a two-day visit to Washington where he and Bush reviewed U.S. plans for Iraq and the timeline for reviving the peace process after two-years of bloodshed.

The Israeli press reported U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had demanded an explanation from Sharon as news broke of Rafah.

However, Israel's ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon denied on Israeli public radio that the matter had been raised at all.

The army's operations came under careful scrutiny at home, with top-selling Yediot Aharanot compiling a list of 48 Palestinian civilians killed by Israel since June.

But even as Sharon's hawkish government defended the army, Israel took some minor steps aimed at easing the harsh living conditions in the West Bank where a four-month reoccupation by Israel has given rise to fears of a looming humanitarian crisis.

In a nod to Washington, the army lifted its daytime curfew on Jenin, but also dug trenches around the northern West Bank town and kept it surrounded so no one could leave.

The military had already lifted the curfew earlier in the week only to slap it back down again.

Public radio, meanwhile, said Sharon was to hold intense security discussions Sunday October 20, on the withdrawal of troops from the southern West Bank town of El-Khalil (Hebron), a move requested by Washington that has long been on the table and repeatedly delayed.

Such measures might aid Burns' trip as Washington repeatedly has come under fire in the Arab world for being blatantly pro-Israeli.

The trip also comes as Washington, supported by London, is making diplomatic efforts to push fellow U.N. Security Council members to adopt a resolution threatening Iraq with military action if it hinders access to suspected weapons sites.

Most of the countries on Burns's itinerary are firmly opposed to the military option against Iraq and some, including Egypt, have warned of an explosion of Middle East anger and violence should it occur.

Burns said he had "stressed Bush's determination to work with the international community and with the Security Council to the maximum extent possible to achieve Iraq's disarmament and to ensure that it meets its obligations under Security Council resolutions."

The United States said Friday October 18, it had dropped a key demand that any new U.N. Security Council resolution contains an automatic authorization of the use of force if Baghdad does not disarm.

The announcement came following intense opposition from France and Russia, also permanent members of the council, to an automatic recourse to force.

U.S. officials are hoping to present the new draft resolution early next week.

It would probably allow arms inspectors to assess whether Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction, backed by only an implicit threat of force, diplomats said.

However Washington has also made it clear that it reserved the right to act unilaterally against Iraq if it considered the UN's response inadequate.

"As Bush said, war is not imminent, it is not inevitable, it has to be seen as a last resort," Burns said.

But he added, "The new resolution on which we are working in New York must make clear that the international community will not tolerate anything less than full compliance" by Iraq with its obligations to disarm.

The two-week tour will also take Burns to Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.