WASHINGTON Ñ The United States has decided to end Israel's isolation
of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
President George Bush has obtained the approval of Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon for U.S. officials to begin meeting Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in his besieged headquarters in Ramallah, Middle East Newsline reported.
U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni is scheduled to meet Arafat on Friday and is
expected to pave the way for a meeting by Secretary of State Colin Powell
next week. Powell is expected to arrive in Israel by Wednesday.
Sharon's decision to allow the United States to meet Arafat came after
the Israeli prime minister refused similar appeals by European Union
leaders. This included a meeting by EU security chief Javier Solana and
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique.
U.S. officials said the Zinni meeting with Arafat on Friday afternoon
would be followed by specific U.S. demands for an Israeli ceasefire and
withdrawal from West Bank cities. They said Zinni would present Arafat with
a plan to end suicide bombings against Israel.
On Thursday, Bush, asserting he speaks as a friend of Israel, urged the
Jewish state to end its offensive against the PA and agree to a new peace
initiative by Washington. Bush, who acknowledged international pressure on
Washington, said Israel must halt what he called the humiliation of
Palestinians and Jewish settlement of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Yet, to lay the foundations of future peace," Bush said, "I ask Israel
to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas, and begin the
withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied. The world expects
an immediate ceasefire, immediate resumption of security cooperation with
Israel against terrorism, and an immediate order to crack down on terrorist
networks. I expect better leadership and I expect results."
U.S. officials said Bush's call represents a victory for Powell, who
over the last three days of intensive consultations within the
administration had urged that Israel be pressured to stop its drive to
destroy the Arafat regime. The officials said Powell had warned that the
Israeli removal of Arafat would derail efforts to form an Arab or Western
coalition against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"The president had to act to try to stop what we saw as a spiraling
level of violence that might expand
beyond the current area," a senior administration official said. "And we saw
a deteriorating situation with
some of our best friends in the region, but, more importantly, some of
Israel's best Arab friends in the region with whom they had developed solid
relations over the years."
Hours later, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution
that called for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territories. The
United States supported the resolution.
Israeli troops, however, continued their offensive in the West Bank
overnight Friday, with the focus being in the northern city of Jenin.
Israel's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz said the military requires
between four and eight weeks to complete its offensive in the West Bank.
Mofaz said the military believes Arafat must be removed from power to end
the spate of suicide bombings against Israel.
But U.S. officials said the European Union, including Britain, had
warned that it could no longer support Washington's policies in the Middle
East until Israel's week-long military drive was halted. They also said the
administration was alarmed by the sharp increase in oil prices that resulted
from Middle East tensions. Oil prices reached a level of $28 a barrel in
London on Thursday.
