Bush to Mideast: We're back

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has relayed a message to Arab allies that the United States plans to launch an effort to restore Middle East peace.

The message marked the most significant commitment by the new administration that the United States will not abandon efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was sent after nearly three months of a hands-off attitude by President George Bush concerning the decades-old dispute.

Both Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell worked the telephones on Wednesday with Israeli and Arab leaders to relay the new administration approach. The message is also being delivered by Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker, who is on a tour of the Middle East, Middle East Newsline reported.

The new U.S. approach came after Arab allies of Washington warned that the Middle East was heading toward war unless the administration demonstrated a genuine commitment to renew Arab-Israeli peace efforts. This included negotiations between Israel with both the Palestinians and Syria.

"We are actively engaged in trying to restore calm in the region," Walker said during his first stop in Amman. "We are actively engaged with the parties and eventually we will be more engaged in the future."

U.S. officials said one proposal being considered by the White House and State Department is to appoint a special envoy to the Middle East. The proposal would resume the policy of then-President Bill Clinton, who had appointed Dennis Ross as the administration's envoy to coordinate Arab-Israeli peace efforts. In one of his first decisions, Powell eliminated the position.

Tensions, however, remained high in the region. Syrian President Bashar Assad has warned of retaliation for the Israeli attack of a Syrian radar position in Lebanon earlier this week. Walker held talks with Assad in Damascus on Thursday.

"We have had senior diplomats throughout the region, in Beirut and Damascus and Israel, elsewhere in the region, talked at high levels to governments, including in Damascus, about the need to exercise restraint," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "about the need to avoid escalation and to avoid actions that could threaten the situation further."

A key issue for the administration is a proposal by Egypt and Jordan for a resumption of Palestinian negotiations with Israel. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has rejected any resumption of peace talks without an end to the nearly seven-month-old mini-war with the Palestinian Authority.

So far, the Bush administration supports the Israeli position. Walker appeared to reiterate this support during his talks in Amman although he called the Egyptian-Jordanian plan "very constructive."

U.S. officials said that Walker would discuss a range of issues, including the maintenance of so-called smart sanctions on Iraq. Iraq has pressed Jordan not to agree to any cooperation with the United States on surveillance of Iraqi borders. But Washington wants its new policy endorsed by such Iraqi neighbors as Iran, Jordan Syria and Turkey before the current phase of the United Nations oil-for-food program expires in June.

"Our objective is do away with the sanctions regime and replace it with the controls over the weapons of mass destruction and military items," Walker said.

On Thursday, the London-based Al Hayat daily reported that Walker plans to submit a plan to Syria and Turkey to encourage them to obtain Iraqi oil under UN supervision. The plan would provide greater opportunity for Syria and Turkey to provide humanitarian supplies and civilian goods under the food-for-oil program.