A top Palestinian official dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal for a peace conference organised by the United States as a trick. Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat accused the hardline premier of using this trick to find a way to carry on the occupation. “The issue now is to solve the current crisis and not to find a new framework for a settlement. We already have the (1991) international Madrid conference, which lays out the land-for-peace principle,” Erakat added. Sharon proposed on Sunday night in Tel Aviv to Secretary of State Colin Powell organising an international conference for a peace settlement in the Middle East, Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin said. This conference would be held under the aegis of the United States, should be held at a neutral venue and gather representatives from Israel, the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Gulf states, he added.
Traditionally, Israel has always resisted calls for international peace conferences, fearing that it would be isolated and bullied by Arab states and the world community in such a setting.
The US said that it was open to the idea, as Powell failed to get a commitment from the Palestinians for an end to suicide attacks and a timetable from the Israelis for a withdrawal from reoccupied autonomous land in the West Bank.

Bureau Report