The United States on Thursday lashed out at Yasser Arafat for not having done enough to stop “terrorism” as one of the Palestinian leader's top aides renewed a longstanding demand for greater US involvement in the Middle East peace process, reported AFP.
"There are responsibilities that come with being the representative of the Palestinian people, and that means to make certain that you do everything that you can to lower the level of violence, everything that you can to root out terrorists," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said.
"These are responsibilities that we have asked Chairman Arafat to take and to take seriously. We still don't think that there has been enough in this regard," she was quoted as telling reporters at the White House.
"It is extremely important to separate yourself from international terrorists. You cannot help us with Al Qaeda and hug Hizbollah. That's not acceptable -- or Hamas," Rice said.
She referred to Osama bin Laden's network, which Washington blames for the September 11 terror strikes in the United States, and two major anti-Israel groups -- Hizbollah, which operates in southern Lebanon, and Hamas, which operates in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Rice said President George W. Bush had "no plans" to meet with Arafat on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session that begins this weekend in New York, even though another official said an "accidental" or brief encounter that would stop short of formal meetings was under consideration.
Rice's comments followed talks between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Palestinian international cooperation minister Nabil Shaath ahead of the UN meeting which Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres are expected to attend.
The development would be seen by the Palestinians as new evidence that the US has changed its praised position supporting the Palestinian state.
Bush has said that the ant-terror campaign would go on whether there is, or there is not peace in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, diplomats told the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz on Thursday that Israel would reoccupy parts of the West Bank and Gaza if Arafat, as reported in the press, would declare a Palestinian state at the UN meeting.
According to AFP, Shaath urged Washington to step up its Middle East engagement and called on Israel to take steps to boost Arafat's authority by easing its "suffocating siege" of the Palestinian territories.
"We'd like the United States to become thoroughly involved once again in this peace process, there is no other alternative," Shaath told reporters after speaking with Powell.
"We would like to see the (US) political vision enunciated clearly because that is the political light at the end of the tunnel."
Shaath appealed for Washington to see the benefits of greater Middle East engagement for the war on terrorism.
"Think of how good it would be if the United States really helps out in putting this peace process on the ground and making it go further, (think of) how much that would be helpful in this global fight against international terrorism and creating a world which is more secure and more just," he said.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell hoped to meet with Arafat on the sidelines of the UN session but that Washington had no confirmation that the Palestinian leader would attend the gathering.
"President Arafat will have to make his own plans about whether he can come or not," Shaath said, calling for US monitors to be deployed to assess the implementation of ceasefire agreements made with Israel.
And he urged the Jewish state to relent in a bid to empower Arafat to crack down on violence.
"The policy of assassinations and siege and closure have created a very difficult situation for the Palestinian Authority," he said.
"So long as the Israelis continue to assassinate and to occupy and to keep the Palestinians in a humiliating and suffocating siege, it is very difficult to empower President Arafat to his own population," Shaath said.
"He is seen by the majority of the population in a way doing Israel's bidding while an invasion is going on," he said, adding that without quick action Arafat would not have the political support to sustain a ceasefire – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
