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US force may
monitor ceasefire in Middle East
By Harvey Morris in Jerusalem, Judy Dempsey in Madrid and Roula Khalaf in Amman Published: April 11 2002 20:08 | Last Updated: April 11 2002 21:24 | |
Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, embarks on a series of crucial meetings on Friday to end Middle East violence that could lead to the dispatch of a small US force to monitor a ceasefire, diplomats said on Thursday. As the Israeli army pursued its two-week-old offensive with incursions into two more towns and a refugee camp near Nablus, Mr Powell again warned that the offensive would not end the conflict. Israeli officials said more than 4,000 people had been detained in the offensive. Relief agencies said several thousand had been left homeless around the Jenin refugee camp, scene of some of the worst fighting between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli forces. Mr Powell, speaking in Madrid before departing for Jordan and Israel on Thursday, said: "No matter how effective the Israeli defence forces believe they are right now in rooting out terrorism and going after other targets they have set themselves, when it's over there will still be people who are willing to resort to violence and terror." Mr Powell refrained, however, from reiterating Washington's demands for Israel - so far rejected by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister - to begin an immediate withdrawal from the West Bank. The two men spoke by telephone on Thursday and they are due to meet on Friday in Jerusalem. Mr Sharon said the army had pulled out of 22 West Bank villages. However, troops went into the small towns of Bir Zeit and Dahariya and the refugee camp of Ein Beit Elma on Thursday. A number of students at Bir Zeit University, a strongly nationalist campus north of Ramallah, were among those arrested. The army said 121 of more than 4,000 Palestinians arrested in its two-week sweep through the main West Bank towns were on Israel's most-wanted list. UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency, said 3,000 people were homeless around Jenin. The army continued to bar entry to the refugee camp there on Thursday. With Mr Sharon apparently determined to continue the offensive in the face of US and world pressure, Mr Powell was expected to urge him to address underlying aspects of the conflict that would figure in peace talks, such as the future of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and the fate of Palestinian refugees. In his Friday meeting with Yassir Arafat - which Mr Sharon opposes but is unlikely to prevent - Mr Powell will urge the Palestinian Authority leader to issue a statement in Arabic to his people condemning terrorism. While he will again urge Mr Arafat to crack down on terrorism, diplomats said the US recognises that the ability of the Palestinian security forces to act has been crippled by the offensive. They said the issue of international observers to monitor a ceasefire, which the Palestinians favour but Israel has until now opposed, was bound to be raised. Mr Sharon might be prepared to accept a small US-only force, but this in itself would be symbolic of international involvement in attempts to solve the conflict, diplomats said. Gideon Saar, Israeli cabinet secretary, said on Thursday that Israel remained totally opposed to an international observer force. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3KLU8ZWZC&live=true&tagid=IXLYK5HZ8CC | |
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