|
Sharon Calls On U.S. To End Palestinian "Obsession" Ahead Of Powell Visit
JERUSALEM, Feb 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon called Friday for Washington's close relations with the Jewish state to "obsess" less on the Middle East peace process, as the Israeli cabinet has yet to be set and as 40 Palestinians were injured a day ahead of a debut visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"The prime minister-elect does not intend to abandon the peace process, but he does not think it is possible for Israel and the United States to obsess just on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and put aside a regional approach to the problems," Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin said.
Sharon said relations with the U.S. had suffered during Palestinian peace talks as the focus of their partnership had shifted, saying, "In the past too much focus was placed on the peace process, which is very important, but as a result, bilateral relations suffered," adding that, "We must concentrate on those common issues between Israel and the United States."
"Issues such as the acquisition of non-conventional weapons by countries such as Iraq are at least as important for the region's stability, as President [George W.] Bush understands well," Gissin said.
According to CNN, Powell is expected to meet the leaders of Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and Russia's foreign minister in Cairo, as well as Israeli and Palestinian key figures during his four-day trip.
The Bush administration has made clear that Powell, making his first trip to the region as secretary of state, is not coming with a peace plan as he holds talks with Sharon and with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
But, Powell is expected to demand that Israel ease sanctions to prevent a total collapse of the Palestinian economy, which has lost billions of dollars as a result of the closure of the West Bank and Gaza.
Much of Powell's trip will likely concentrate on building support for Washington's hard line on Iraq, which has faced increased opposition from U.S. regional allies such as Egypt.
U.S. warplanes struck northern Iraq on Thursday, just one week after U.S. and British forces hit Baghdad for the first time in more than two years.
Bush said the missions were meant to "get [Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's] attention."
"We had two missions. One was to send a clear signal to Saddam, and the other was to degrade the capacity of Saddam to injure our pilots. I believe we succeeded in both those missions," Bush told a White House news conference.
CNN reports that Powell's weekend visit also follows Thursday's conclusion of a joint U.S.-Israeli patriot missile testing exercise - the same type of missile that was used by Israel in its attempt to shoot down Iraqi missiles during the Gulf War.
Meanwhile, Sharon continues to work to piece together a broad-based coalition government as caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced his resignation as Labor leader earlier this week, leaving a power vacuum as the party holds talks to form a unity government with the Prime Minister-elect.
Negotiations have reportedly stalled over the designation of cabinet spots, with Labor holding out for the finance ministry and posts that focus on social issues, rather than control of the defense ministry as previously offered to Barak and Labor.
MP Meir Sheetrit, a negotiator for Sharon's Likud party, reissued a threat to set a deadline for Labor members to make up their minds.
"If between now and next Friday discussions haven't succeeded, the prime minister-elect should form a government with a simple majority, leaving some portfolios empty until the Labor party decides to move above its leadership infighting," Sheetrit told army radio.
Labor's central committee is due to discuss coalition plans Monday night, amid opposition from the party's left-wing to joining a government likely to include controversial figures of the far-right.
But the Labor party has withdrawn a threatened veto against any coalition that includes far-right MPs Avigdor Lieberman or Rehavam Zeevi. Lieberman has frequently called for Israel to bomb its Arab neighbors and Iran. Zeeiv has gained notoriety for comparing Arafat to Adolf Hitler and calling for Palestinians to be "persuaded" to leave the occupied territories.
One Palestinian was shot dead and more than 40 were injured by Israeli troops in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with the army cutting off the northern Gaza Strip from the south after two bombs exploded near Jewish settlements, including one near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, near Gaza City and Palestinians fired mortars.
Palestinian groups have called for a "day of rage" every Friday since the start nearly five months ago of an uprising, or Intifada, in which 418 people have died, most of them Palestinians.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers shot 16-year-old Talal Hassan Abu Arida in the head following a gunfight with Palestinians. The Israelis then blocked Arida's ambulance, preventing it from taking him to the hospital, Palestinian medical sources said. No clashes were underway at the time, but Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen had engaged in a gunfight some 20 minutes earlier.
Palestinian residents reported an explosion near Rafah and a gunfight south of Netzarim in the town of Dayr al-Balah, saying Israelis shelled and damaged a technical training school and a house in response.
An Israeli military spokesman said a bomb exploded on a road connecting the Karni passage point with Netzarim, while another went off near the Morag settlement.
The spokesman confirmed the army had divided Gaza "after the increasing acts of terrorism," including overnight mortar fire on the Elei Sinai settlement. The army also announced it had razed agricultural land around the Netzarim blast site of the blast and bulldozed two police posts.
Abdel Razeq al-Majeda, head of Palestinian general security in Gaza, said the bulldozing was "a failing attempt, which destroyed part of the positions."
"This is an organized, ongoing and unjust action. The Gaza Strip has been quiet over the past days. Now the situation is very tense," Saeb al-Ajez, director of the Palestinian national security force in the northern Gaza Strip, said.
Raed Mahmoud Hussein Musa, 21, died after being shot in the chest during clashes in the Arab village of al-Khader near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, hospital officials said.
In al-Khader, violent clashes broke out when dozens of youths pelted soldiers with rocks, residents said.
Israeli troops responded with tear gas and a mixture of live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets, injuring four other Palestinians besides Musa, including one who was shot in the eye.
At the Karni crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip, medical officials said a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the face. The circumstances surrounding the shooting were unclear.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwers on the northern edge of the Arab-run town, injuring 36 Palestinians, four of them with live fire.
The clashes broke out after some 2,000 protesters marched in the street, expressing support for the five-month-old Palestinian uprising and denouncing Israel and the United States.
The demonstrators in Ramallah also set fire to a model of a rocket, painted with a U.S. flag and bearing images of Bush, Sharon, Barak and Powell, who arrives in Israel Saturday.
"The Israeli army will react in the way it finds appropriate to assure civilians and Israeli soldiers' safety," an Israeli army spokesman said, blaming "this escalation in violence and terrorism" on Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
Israeli officials frequently accuse the Palestinian Authority of fomenting violence, charges the Palestinians deny.
|
