- News>
- World
Bush snubs Israeli angst to favour peace talks
Jerusalem, Dec 05: A row between Washington and Israel over West Asia peace proposals ratchets up a level today when US Secretary of State Colin Powell meets maverick peacemakers condemned by Israel`s right-wing government.
Jerusalem, Dec 05: A row between Washington and Israel over West Asia peace proposals ratchets up a level today when US Secretary of State Colin Powell meets maverick peacemakers condemned by Israel's right-wing government.
US President George W. Bush has given his blessing to Powell's meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian authors of the unofficial peace plan, put forward at a Geneva meeting this week to international approval.
The Israeli government has condemned the proposals as a surrender to Palestinian demands.
Bush has been increasingly irked by Israel's tightening grip on the occupied territories complicating US efforts to bring the Jewish state to peace with the Palestinians.
''I think it's productive,'' Bush said of the Geneva Peace Plan proposed by leading Israeli dove Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.
''We appreciate people discussing peace,'' Bush said.
His remarks, although combined with a reaffirmation of the official ''road map'' peace plan as the US priority, amounted to a stinging setback to the Israeli government's bid to sideline the unofficial plan through its close ties with the White House.
An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suggested hours before that Washington would be interfering in domestic politics by giving a stage to the Geneva initiators, fanning a rare public row between Israel and its closest ally.
In Cairo, Palestinian militant factions opened negotiations on Thursday aimed at agreeing terms for a mutual ceasefire with Israel, a step indispensable to reviving the ''road map'' process held up for months by continued violence.
''I think the discussions between the Palestinian groups are going well. I am optimistic...,'' Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told reporters at his West Bank home before leaving to join the Cairo discussions today.
Under the Geneva deal, Israel would give up West Bank and Gaza territories occupied in the 1967 Middle East War to Palestinians to set up a state, also the end goal of the road map.
But unlike the vague road map to peace, it lays out solutions to deep-seated disputes by mandating the removal of most Jewish settlements on occupied land -- seen by Sharon as essential to Israeli security -- and giving Israel the right to decide how many Palestinian refugees of wars since 1948 to take back.
The Geneva initiative was conceived during a three-year vacuum of violence without serious talks by those in power.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Qurie have welcomed the unofficial plan but not endorsed the details. Both sides have accepted the road map.
Bureau Report
US President George W. Bush has given his blessing to Powell's meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian authors of the unofficial peace plan, put forward at a Geneva meeting this week to international approval.
The Israeli government has condemned the proposals as a surrender to Palestinian demands.
Bush has been increasingly irked by Israel's tightening grip on the occupied territories complicating US efforts to bring the Jewish state to peace with the Palestinians.
''I think it's productive,'' Bush said of the Geneva Peace Plan proposed by leading Israeli dove Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.
''We appreciate people discussing peace,'' Bush said.
His remarks, although combined with a reaffirmation of the official ''road map'' peace plan as the US priority, amounted to a stinging setback to the Israeli government's bid to sideline the unofficial plan through its close ties with the White House.
An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suggested hours before that Washington would be interfering in domestic politics by giving a stage to the Geneva initiators, fanning a rare public row between Israel and its closest ally.
In Cairo, Palestinian militant factions opened negotiations on Thursday aimed at agreeing terms for a mutual ceasefire with Israel, a step indispensable to reviving the ''road map'' process held up for months by continued violence.
''I think the discussions between the Palestinian groups are going well. I am optimistic...,'' Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told reporters at his West Bank home before leaving to join the Cairo discussions today.
Under the Geneva deal, Israel would give up West Bank and Gaza territories occupied in the 1967 Middle East War to Palestinians to set up a state, also the end goal of the road map.
But unlike the vague road map to peace, it lays out solutions to deep-seated disputes by mandating the removal of most Jewish settlements on occupied land -- seen by Sharon as essential to Israeli security -- and giving Israel the right to decide how many Palestinian refugees of wars since 1948 to take back.
The Geneva initiative was conceived during a three-year vacuum of violence without serious talks by those in power.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Qurie have welcomed the unofficial plan but not endorsed the details. Both sides have accepted the road map.
Bureau Report