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Powell calls on Israel to pull back on West Bank
Washington, July 01: Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on Israel to pull back from cities and towns on the West Bank and relinquish control of them to the Palestinian authority.
Washington, July 01: Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on Israel to pull back from cities and towns on the West Bank and relinquish control of them to the Palestinian authority.
In a round of television interviews after Israel pulled troops out of northern Gaza and agreed to withdraw from the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Powell yesterday expressed
optimism for Mideast peace prospects and boosted Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas as a worthy leader.
"We hope that with these actions, the Palestinian people will realize that Prime Minister Abbas is producing for them and the reby they will empower him even further," Powell said on a private TV channel.
A US-backed peacemaking road map requires the Palestinian authority to dismantle the terror groups that agreed last weekend to stop attacking Israelis for periods ranging from three to six months.
"We ultimately have to reach a point where the capability for terrorism that exists in these organizations is removed," Powell said.
Powell said for Israel to keep backpedaling from land on which the Palestinians intend to build a state there must be no terror and violence from the areas turned over to the Palestinian authority.
"You can't have people with guns, armed militia, inside of a state," he said. "So if we are going to have a Palestinian state all the weapons, all the force within that state, has to be under the government and these terrorist organizations have to be dismantled."
Bureau Report
"We hope that with these actions, the Palestinian people will realize that Prime Minister Abbas is producing for them and the reby they will empower him even further," Powell said on a private TV channel.
A US-backed peacemaking road map requires the Palestinian authority to dismantle the terror groups that agreed last weekend to stop attacking Israelis for periods ranging from three to six months.
"We ultimately have to reach a point where the capability for terrorism that exists in these organizations is removed," Powell said.
Powell said for Israel to keep backpedaling from land on which the Palestinians intend to build a state there must be no terror and violence from the areas turned over to the Palestinian authority.
"You can't have people with guns, armed militia, inside of a state," he said. "So if we are going to have a Palestinian state all the weapons, all the force within that state, has to be under the government and these terrorist organizations have to be dismantled."
Bureau Report