After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting today with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters that the meeting was “useful and constructive,” but added that no significant progress was made towards a cease-fire agreement. Powell said that he and Arafat “exchanged a variety of ideas” on steps that can be taken to \"move forward.\"
Arafat did not accompany the US Secretary out of his Mukata headquarters; Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat said that this was due to fear of Israeli snipers stationed around the compound. Israel has had many opportunities to kill Arafat in the recent past, putting the above claim into proper perspective; most observers felt that the lack of agreement between Powell and Arafat was the real reason for the latter\'s lack of a hospitable send-off. Also present today were PA officials Abu Mazen, Abu Ala, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, as well as militia heads Mohammed Dahlan and Mohammed Rashid.
PLO spokesman Saeb Erekat said that the PA would not consider a cease-fire until Israel totally withdraws from all PLO-controlled cities. This Arafat stance thus jibes nicely with the Hamas policy; Hamas threatened today that its suicide attacks would continue until the Israeli conquest over \"Palestinian lands\" ends. The Hamas spokesman in Gaza said that the suicide attacks are a legitimate tactic and are not terrorism.
Today’s Powell-Arafat meeting was meant to have taken place on Saturday, but was suspended by the Americans after Friday afternoon\'s suicide killing in Jerusalem. The meeting was rescheduled for today after Yasser Arafat released a statement saying that the PA “strongly condemns all attacks targeting civilians from both sides, and especially the attack that took place against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem… We also condemn very strongly the massacre that was committed by the Israeli occupation troops against our refugees in Jenin and against our people in Ramallah, Nablus [Shechem] and Tul Karem, and also the brutal aggression against the church in Bethlehem during the last two weeks.”
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the statement “contains a number of interesting and positive elements…” Israeli sources said that what was particularly \"interesting\" was that the PLO leader expressed criticism of the murder even though recently-uncovered documents show that he personally approved payments for suicide bombers and explosives.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Daniel Ayalon called the statement “weak.\" He pointed out that when Arafat calls for a million shahids (martyrs) to march to Jerusalem, \"he does so in his own voice, emphatically,\" and not via an office-released statement. Ayalon also repeated that Israel needs action from Arafat, not just words.
Before the Powell-Arafat meeting, the IDF restored power and water to the PA offices, delivered fresh food supplies, cleared the area of debris and removed the roadblocks and tanks set up at the entrance to the compound. Powell’s motorcade made its way from Jerusalem to Ramallah under very heavy guard, and the US Secretary ignored reporters’ questions until his emergence from the PLO compound. Powell was set to meet with Israeli President Moshe Katzav later today and with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the evening.
Arafat did not accompany the US Secretary out of his Mukata headquarters; Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat said that this was due to fear of Israeli snipers stationed around the compound. Israel has had many opportunities to kill Arafat in the recent past, putting the above claim into proper perspective; most observers felt that the lack of agreement between Powell and Arafat was the real reason for the latter\'s lack of a hospitable send-off. Also present today were PA officials Abu Mazen, Abu Ala, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, as well as militia heads Mohammed Dahlan and Mohammed Rashid.
PLO spokesman Saeb Erekat said that the PA would not consider a cease-fire until Israel totally withdraws from all PLO-controlled cities. This Arafat stance thus jibes nicely with the Hamas policy; Hamas threatened today that its suicide attacks would continue until the Israeli conquest over \"Palestinian lands\" ends. The Hamas spokesman in Gaza said that the suicide attacks are a legitimate tactic and are not terrorism.
Today’s Powell-Arafat meeting was meant to have taken place on Saturday, but was suspended by the Americans after Friday afternoon\'s suicide killing in Jerusalem. The meeting was rescheduled for today after Yasser Arafat released a statement saying that the PA “strongly condemns all attacks targeting civilians from both sides, and especially the attack that took place against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem… We also condemn very strongly the massacre that was committed by the Israeli occupation troops against our refugees in Jenin and against our people in Ramallah, Nablus [Shechem] and Tul Karem, and also the brutal aggression against the church in Bethlehem during the last two weeks.”
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the statement “contains a number of interesting and positive elements…” Israeli sources said that what was particularly \"interesting\" was that the PLO leader expressed criticism of the murder even though recently-uncovered documents show that he personally approved payments for suicide bombers and explosives.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Daniel Ayalon called the statement “weak.\" He pointed out that when Arafat calls for a million shahids (martyrs) to march to Jerusalem, \"he does so in his own voice, emphatically,\" and not via an office-released statement. Ayalon also repeated that Israel needs action from Arafat, not just words.
Before the Powell-Arafat meeting, the IDF restored power and water to the PA offices, delivered fresh food supplies, cleared the area of debris and removed the roadblocks and tanks set up at the entrance to the compound. Powell’s motorcade made its way from Jerusalem to Ramallah under very heavy guard, and the US Secretary ignored reporters’ questions until his emergence from the PLO compound. Powell was set to meet with Israeli President Moshe Katzav later today and with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the evening.