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State Dept. Says Palestinians Must Do More, Israel Must Also Take Steps
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Palestinian Authority has taken some serious steps towards peace but must continue to do more, and as it does, Israel must also take steps, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.
"Israel must also take steps on the ground to ease restrictions on the Palestinian population," spokesman Richard Boucher said during a press briefing.
He also addressed the recent meeting between Secretary of State Colin Powell and General Anthony Zinni, the U.S. envoy who recently returned from the Middle East after one of the bloodiest periods of the 15-month-old Intifadah, or uprising.
Boucher called the meeting a "serious" and "committed" discussion, but would not characterize or detail it much further, saying only that the U.S would continue to try to work with both parties to try to achieve a lasting peace.
Boucher said that the U.S. had acknowledged "some positive steps by the Palestinian Authority," but stressed that much more needed to be done.
"The secretary and General Zinni did note improvement in the security situation in recent days," he said, referring to Palestinian arrests of Islamic activists and the resumption late Wednesday of high-level security talks.
"At the same time, they both noted the Palestinian Authority needs to take further steps, they need to do more to make their steps effective and decisive in ending the violence," Boucher told reporters, adding a plea for more security discussions.
"We think the direct contacts should continue if terror and violence are to be effectively combated, if the relative calm of the past few days is to be sustained and strengthened."
He said that the "elements of moving forward" included moves by the P.A. to stop the violence and by Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians, such as withdrawing from Palestinian autonomous towns.
"They've taken some serious steps already, we want to see that made effective, decisive," he said. "As the Palestinians continue to take serious steps against the violence, the Israelis, in fact, should take steps to ease the restrictions on the Palestinians."
Earlier Thursday, the Israeli army withdrew from some Palestinian areas, including around Nablus, but shortly afterward launched another incursion there in which a Palestinian man was killed, bringing the death toll from almost 15 months of unrest to 1,107 people.
Boucher dismissed reports of statements from the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, suggesting they would end their policy of bomb attacks on Israeli targets.
"We don't think that you can just rely on promises and statements from people associated with Hamas," he said, emphasizing that the U.S. remained firm on the complete dismantling of Hamas and other armed resistance groups designated as "terrorist" organizations.
Zinni was sent to the region on November 26 on what was described as an open-ended mission to forge an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, but was recalled after several attacks on Israel and an aggressive Israeli response that left scores dead on both sides.
"He was actually making some progress," a senior State Department official said of Zinni and his ultimate fruitless first visit to the region.
"He actually... had some steps being organized to carry the progress forward when these organized and coordinated suicide bombings occurred," the official said. "That knocked us off track. It doesn't mean the effort is wrong, it doesn't mean the approach is wrong, it just means we have to keep working on it."
"As tough as this is, it's always been tough. No one expected Zinni to go in there and wave a magic wand."
Boucher said that Zinni was to report to both Powell and U.S. President George W. Bush, but said that he could not give any details as to when and how Zinni would be meeting with the president.
The State Department had no details as to when Zinni or other envoys might return to the region to resume trilateral talks with Israelis and Palestinians.
"Zinni will return to the region when the secretary [Powell] and he feel that his presence can be effective in moving toward a durable ceasefire," Boucher said.
But he also suggested that the U.S. would continue to play a role in the process even if Zinni does not return to the region.
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