Abbas resignation imperils peace plan ( 2003-09-07 15:22) (Agencies)
Shocked by the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the
Bush administration said Saturday the Palestinians must find a new leader who
stands apart from "a corrupt few tainted by terror" and will continue to seek
peace based on a U.S.-backed blueprint.
The statement from press secretary Scott McClellan showed the administration
is not weakening in its disdain for Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority
chief who created the prime minister's office this year to mollify the Americans
and appointed Abbas.
Arafat told a gathering of legislators and Cabinet members in the West Bank
city of Ramallah that Abbas, who submitted his resignation after losing a power
struggle with Arafat, would head a caretaker government. Arafat had not accepted
the resignation in writing.
McClellan's statement urged all involved, Israelis and Arabs alike, to tread
carefully as the Palestinian government tries to fill its power vacuum.
"At this critical moment, it is important that all parties consider carefully
the consequences of their actions," he said. "We remain committed to
implementation of the road map, working with Israelis, Palestinians, Arab States
who seek peace and our quartet partners."
The road map is President Bush's plan announced 14 months ago designed to
create two states, Israel and independent Palestine, co-existing as neighbors in
peace. The quartet refers to the U.S. co-sponsors: the United Nations, Russia
and the European Union.
"We hope the Palestinian legislature will continue to act in a way that
empowers the prime minister to fight terror and bring a better way of life to
the Palestinian people," McClellan said.
"The creation of the office of prime minister was a key turning point for the
Palestinian Authority in the development of new institutions to serve all the
people, not just a corrupt few tainted by terror. The prime minister must be
supported by a cabinet committed to fighting terror, political reform and
rooting out corruption."
Bush orchestrated the appointment of Abbas, a longtime Arafat comrade and
fellow founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization faction Fatah, as a way
of shunting aside Arafat, who he said was tainted by corruption and a history of
terrorism.
On its otherwise bleak Saturday, the administration got a measure of support
from the European Union, whose foreign ministers designated Hamas a terror
organization.
Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman, welcomed the decision as an
important act toward halting the financing of terrorism. "We look for the EU to
carry through with the political decision it reached today and to take action
against Hamas on an urgent basis," Boucher said. "This will send an important
message that the violence and terror Hamas carries out does not represent the
future for the Palestinian people and will not lead to a Palestinian state."
Until Saturday, the administration considered Abbas the only credible
Palestinian peacemaker. Despite intense pressure from Israel and demands by the
United States, however, Abbas had refused to try to dismantle Hamas and other
violent Palestinian groups. Going beyond persuasion, he insisted, would lead to
civil war.
Nonetheless, the administration has maintained a drumbeat of demands that the
terror structure be dismantled. The road map also requires peacemaking steps by
Israel, and Secretary of State Colin Powell appealed in a speech Friday for
movement by both sides.
"It takes two to make peace; it takes only one to prevent peace," the
secretary said. "If either of the parties turns away from its obligations under
the road map, both will slide into a ditch or tumble over a cliff."
A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
Powell telephoned Javier Solana, the senior diplomat of the European Union, to
discuss where the roadmap stands and how to move ahead. The officials said Hamas
and Arafat are still the problems.
Abbas' decision to quit apparently caught the administration by surprise. As
late as Friday, Powell insisted that progress was being made in implementing the
road map. In a speech at George Washington University, Powell praised Abbas for
trying to consolidate Palestinian security forces and curb corruption.
The administration and its road map partners were at a loss on how to keep
alive the plan for establishing a Palestinian state by 2005 to exist
side-by-side at peace with Israel.
A senior State Department official, Assistant Secretary John S. Wolf,
shuttled between the region in getting instructions in Washington, trying to
bolster Palestinian security to stop further attacks on Israel.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage tentatively was to visit the
region this week, but it was unclear whether the weekend's events would affect
his schedule.
