US Secretary of State Colin Powell's Middle East peace mission has "not yielded any result" because it did not lead to an Israel withdrawal from occupied West Bank towns, a top PLO official said.
Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen), number two of the Palestine Liberation Organization, told AFP "we expected a response on an Israeli pullout, but (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon closed all the doors, which means that the visit of Mr. Powell did not yield any result.
"You cannot talk about progress when there is no question of a pullout" of Israeli forces from the territory occupied following their March 29 invasion of the West Bank, Abbas said.
"I think we are making progress and are looking forward to making more progress in the next 24 hours," Powell said Tuesday. U.S. and Palestinian officials were holding "good conversations," he added. However, they failed to agree on a statement condemning suicide bombings as well as calling for an Israeli withdrawal from West Bank areas, said a senior Palestinian official.
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo had said that, "before talking of progress in any talks ... there has to be an implementation of the UN resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal from all towns, villages and refugee camps occupied by the Israeli army."
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official speaking anonymously said the most the Americans will be able to do on Wednesday is announce that they will continue to pursue efforts to reduce violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In Washington, presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said Powell is exploring avenues to create an environment in which political negotiations can begin. White House officials said privately that Powell's reports to Bush had become slightly more optimistic.
Powell, who met with Sharon on Tuesday for a third time, will leave the region Wednesday morning after another round of talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He will stop in Cairo on the way back to Washington. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
