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CIA Director George Tenet will call on the Palestinians to streamline their security forces.
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| May 30, 2002 |
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The United States resumed its diplomatic activities in the Middle East this week, sending two high-level officials to "assess" the situation. Under Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns will discuss proposed reforms in the Palestinian Authority. He will be followed by CIA Director George Tenet, who is expected to push for a consolidation of PA security forces. Israeli officials have said that PA reform is meaningless, as long as Yasser Arafat remains in power.
In addition to the American diplomats, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is expected to arrive tomorrow. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will meet with Sharon today, and Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham and Foreign Minister Halldor Agrimsson of Iceland discussed developments with Israeli and Palestinian officials earlier this week.
Egyptian presidential adviser Osama Al Baz arrives in Israel today, ahead of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's departure for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush. Ha'aretz reported that Al Baz's visit was seen as a goodwill gesture towards Israel, and geared to preempt Congress's criticism of Egypt's cool relations with Israel.
Senior Bush administration officials told the Washington Post that the goal of the high-level American officials was to "assess" the situation and listen to others. But, the paper said, there appeared to be "no plan" for action to push Israel and the Palestinians closer to the administration's declared vision of two states based on UN Security Council resolutions calling for Israeli withdrawals from Palestinian territories.
Burns said Bush was committed to a "comprehensive strategy" for the Middle East comprising three tracks that should go simultaneously:
 Renew a serious political process aimed at a two-state solution;
Support Palestinian efforts to build strong institutions in preparation for statehood;
Ensure effective Palestinian performance on security.
Burns said he would discuss the first two points with area leaders, while Tenet would consult on the security issue.
The Palestinians, Jordanians and Egyptians are reportedly pressing the Americans to define a timetable for negotiations over a permanent settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. The administration is debating a possible shift in policy that would offer such a timetable, Reuters reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in Rome this week, "We are not at this point prepared to table an American plan with specific deadlines." But a senior official told the New York Times, "The question of whether or not you set a timeline is still on the table."
A Middle East peace conference, originally planned for June, may be delayed until the end of the summer, administration officials said. The timing of the conference would depend on the willingness of the parties to enter detailed discussions and understand in advance their possible outcomes, the officials said.
After Burns and Tenet returned from the Middle East, the administration would "be in a better position to see how we go forward toward the meeting that we are still planning to hold sometime in the course of the summer," Powell said.
A senior official close to Sharon said yesterday that Palestinian Authority reform was meaningless as long as Yasser Arafat remained in control of security and finances, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Despite their disappointment in Arafat, American officials have stated that their perception of needed PA reforms did not necessarily include replacing Arafat. "We don't pick other people's leaders," said Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith yesterday in Cairo.
Tenet to "assess" Palestinian security capabilities
Powell said Tenet's task would be to "resume contacts with the Palestinian authorities to assess their capabilities, to develop specific performance measures for Palestinian security services and to restore effective security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians."
Tenet reportedly has a mandate to streamline the different Palestinian security organizations into three or four, under one unified command. Tenet's plan was coordinated with Egyptian, Jordanian and Israeli intelligence officials who visited Washington in the last few weeks, Yediot Aharonot reported. The paper said Tenet also consulted secretly with Mohammed Rashid, Yasser Arafat's financial adviser.
According to the plan, the regrouped Palestinian security forces would be:
Police - responsible for general civil security.
Para-military force - unified military command organized to fight terror infrastructure.
Internal intelligence - parallel to Israel's Shin Bet.
External intelligence - parallel to Israel's Mossad.
In addition, the Force 17 presidential guard would be limited to its original purpose - protecting Arafat, media sources said.
But West Bank Preventive Security Chief Jibril Rajoub told reporters in Cairo last week that "talk of a single apparatus and a single official? is an Israeli dream."
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