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Powell in Israel for talks on US peace plan
Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Israel on Wednesday, saying it would be up to Israel to decide when Israeli-Palestinian violence has eased enough to go ahead with a US plan to resume peacemaking.
Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Israel on Wednesday, saying it would be up to Israel to decide when Israeli-Palestinian violence has eased enough to go ahead with a US plan to resume peacemaking.
Powell flew in from Egypt for talks on Thursday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He was met at Ben Gurion airport by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and drove with him to Jerusalem. The US government is spearheading efforts to end nine months of bloodshed which has killed about 600 people. Since a fragile US-brokered truce took effect on June 13 the overall level of violence has dropped significantly.
However, signs of a US-Israeli rift emerged on Tuesday when Sharon met President Bush in Washington.
Sharon told Bush that he demanded 10 days of total calm with the Palestinians before moving ahead with U.S. plans to push forward peace efforts. Bush sounded more flexible, insisting that the "cycle of violence must be broken" and saying there was some progress in reducing clashes between the parties. In Alexandria on Wednesday, Powell told a news conference after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: "We've had some quiet over the last several days.
"Nobody is claiming that the level of violence is down where anybody could say it was either realistic or zero...But at the end of the day it is Mr. Sharon who will make that judgement."
"Mr. Sharon has been quite clear. He is seeking absolute quiet and by that he means absolute quiet. President Bush was speaking yesterday of a realistic level of violence, something that makes it clear to all sides that there has been a change, that the cycle of violence has been broken," he said.
Bureau Report
Powell flew in from Egypt for talks on Thursday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He was met at Ben Gurion airport by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and drove with him to Jerusalem. The US government is spearheading efforts to end nine months of bloodshed which has killed about 600 people. Since a fragile US-brokered truce took effect on June 13 the overall level of violence has dropped significantly.
However, signs of a US-Israeli rift emerged on Tuesday when Sharon met President Bush in Washington.
Sharon told Bush that he demanded 10 days of total calm with the Palestinians before moving ahead with U.S. plans to push forward peace efforts. Bush sounded more flexible, insisting that the "cycle of violence must be broken" and saying there was some progress in reducing clashes between the parties. In Alexandria on Wednesday, Powell told a news conference after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: "We've had some quiet over the last several days.
"Nobody is claiming that the level of violence is down where anybody could say it was either realistic or zero...But at the end of the day it is Mr. Sharon who will make that judgement."
"Mr. Sharon has been quite clear. He is seeking absolute quiet and by that he means absolute quiet. President Bush was speaking yesterday of a realistic level of violence, something that makes it clear to all sides that there has been a change, that the cycle of violence has been broken," he said.
Bureau Report