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Officials: U.S. pressuring militants to stop attacksIsraelis, Palestinians must follow 'road map,' Powell says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With the latest surge in violence threatening to block peace efforts in the Middle East, top U.S. officials have been calling world leaders during the past two days, urging them to cut support to Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the State Department said Friday. The United States government considers the militant groups terrorist organizations. Terrorism is "the heart of the problem," the White House said. "If there's no terrorism, there won't be a need to fight terror," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "The first step" is to "bring the terror down." Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "All of our efforts are focused on Hamas, and persuading Hamas and Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations that this is the time to abandon terror." Powell spoke by phone Friday with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, urging Syria to end its support for Hamas and other groups that engage in terrorism, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said. Meanwhile, Israelis and Palestinians are mourning victims of a week of violence during which more than 50 people have been killed. (Full story) Powell also talked with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and during the past few days has reached out to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, European Union High Representative Javier Solana, and the foreign ministers of Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Boucher said. "We've had good conversations," Powell said. In each case, Boucher said, they discussed "what can you do to help stop the terror and to get us moving down the road that we've outlined, the road toward peace?" National security adviser Condoleezza Rice has also been engaged in extensive telephone diplomacy, calling Arab and European leaders. "We have to see all the parties cutting off money, cutting off support, cutting off the ability to operate, cutting off the ability of violent groups to challenge the authority that needs to be vested in the Palestinian Authority and then the government," Boucher said. President Bush was at his parents' home in Kennebunkport, Maine, to begin a long weekend, and was kept updated by aides, White House officials said. A U.S. team led by Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf, the Bush administration's new point man in the Middle East, is going to the region this weekend for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in hopes of moving both sides forward on the U.S.-backed road map for Middle East peace. The initial steps include Israel's dismantling of settlement outposts considered to be illegal and Palestinian efforts to crack down on terrorism. Israel has begun taking down the outposts, and the two sides disagree over whether Palestinian leadership has moved toward cracking down on terrorist groups. Israeli officials contend that Abbas has done nothing to crack down on terrorist groups such as Hamas that have refused to end attacks on Israelis. During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Sharon described Abbas as a "chick" who needs time to "grow feathers." Abbas has said he will not lift arms against terrorist groups and risk setting off a civil war. Palestinian leaders accuse Israel of trying to sabotage steps toward peace by launching military attacks instead of giving Abbas an opportunity to build support and persuade groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop their attacks. The United States and Israel consider Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Brigades terrorist organizations. While "we are all anxious to see restraint" in Israel's responses to repeated terrorist attacks, Powell said, "We understand it's important to get the terror down -- if terror goes down, then the response to terror will no longer be required." Fleischer also called on Israel to "be mindful of the fact they need to keep the vision alive.'' Powell said the terrorist groups are hurting Palestinians. "We hope anyone who claims or pretends to represent the interests of the Palestinian people and is interested in the creation of a state for Palestinian people will listen to the pleas from the international community to end this kind of activity, so we can get going," he said. Powell said Israeli and Palestinian leaders have "indicated to me that they want to stay with the commitments they made to the world and to President Bush last week. So we're continuing with the road map and the efforts to get both sides to start taking steps that were laid out in the early stages of the road map." There have also been "good conversations between the two sides," he added. Powell is scheduled to attend a meeting of the so-called Middle East Quartet in Amman, Jordan, on June 22 that will attempt to salvage the peace moves. The quartet -- the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union -- created the road map. "We have a plan," Powell said. "We have the commitment of leaders. And now we have to execute that plan and keep moving forward and not allow ourselves to be distracted or thrown off point from the promise that's out there with the road map by this surge of violence. We've got to punch our way through it." --CNN correspondent Kelly Wallace and producer Jennifer Baskerville contributed to this report
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