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Report may be 'excuse' to break Mideast impasse
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. diplomats welcomed an international commission's proposals to end months of Israeli-Palestinian clashes, but urged both sides to enact them quickly. Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell's report calls on both sides to take steps to rebuild trust and resume peace talks, including an immediate cease-fire, a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism and a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. (More on the report) Both Israel and the Palestinians agreed in general to the Mitchell Committee's blueprint, though Israel has not agreed to restrict settlements. Dennis Ross, the Clinton administration's top Mideast envoy, cautioned that at least six months will be needed to get the process under way. Ross said the report allows both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to move without appearing to make unpopular concessions.
"It may give each of them an excuse to do something," Ross said. "They will not respond to each other. That much is very clear." The Mitchell Committee's report will also give other nations impetus to call for peace, said Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief. "The situation now is unbearable and it is the time that the whole international community can with one voice say the same thing to both parties -- an unconditional cessation of violence," he said. Settlements core of problem, Arabs sayThe Mitchell Committee report was released against the backdrop of a nearly 8-month-old conflict that has killed more than 500 people, mostly Palestinians. Fresh clashes on Monday in Gaza left two Palestinians dead and five wounded, Palestinian authorities said. (More on Monday's violence) "The greatest danger of all is that the culture of peace, nurtured over the previous decade, is being shattered," the commission concluded. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he is dispatching top U.S. diplomats -- U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, Consul General Ron Schlicher and U.S. Ambassador to Jordan William Burns -- to help both sides enact the report's recommendations. "It's now time for both sides, with the help of the international community and the United States, to move forward on the basis of this report," Powell said. In a report by the Reuters news service, Arab diplomats welcomed Powell's commitment to devote attention to the Middle East but said he had failed to address what Arabs see as the core problem of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. "Unless the settlement activity stops, there is little hope of persuading the Palestinians that the Israelis mean business when they talk of peace," Marwan Muasher, the Jordanian ambassador in Washington, told Reuters. Israelis insist on cease-firePalestinians complained that the report's blueprint was too sketchy, and said they would insist that all points be put in place. "We are fully committed to carry out all our obligations emanating from this report, providing that we implement honestly and without any games -- the full report, page to page, without being selective," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. (Erakat interview) Shimon Peres, Israel's foreign minister, said Israel had agreed not to expand the number of settlements established in the West Bank and Gaza -- but the government has not yet agreed to freeze the growth of existing settlements. And Israelis insist that a cease-fire should come before any other confidence-building measures the report recommended. (Peres interview) "If you should have a cease-fire, the whole atmosphere will be changed," Peres said. Addressing another highly disputed point, the report found the violence could not be blamed on the September visit of Sharon, then the conservative opposition leader, to a religious site in Jerusalem holy to both Jews and Muslims. But the report did say Sharon's visit was "poorly timed" and its "provocative effect" should have been foreseen. In releasing the report, Mitchell called on both sides to enter a "cooling-off period" to get the two sides back to the negotiating table. "Death and destruction will not solve the problems in the Middle East," Mitchell said. "They will only make things worse." |
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