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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that a provisional Palestinian state was one of the ideas the Bush administration was considering.
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| By Ellis Shuman June 13, 2002 |
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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Bush administration is considering the establishment of an interim Palestinian state on territories already under control of the Palestinian Authority. The proposal reportedly came up in talks between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington, in advance of an expected Bush policy statement on the Middle East. Media sources differed as to Sharon's response to the idea.
In an interview Monday with the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Powell said creating a provisional state would give the Palestinian people "something they can put their hopes in, their dreams in, something the international community can invest in with some confidence. I think almost everybody has come to the agreement there is a need for provisional or interim steps."
But speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Powell said that an interim Palestinian state was one of many ideas under consideration. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Powell's comments were reflective of "a variety of pieces of advice that people in the government are paid to listen to, from whatever source they originally derive."
Powell's comments were apparently intended to balance out statements made by Bush after a weekend of talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak urged Bush to accept the idea of a Palestinian state in early 2003, to be followed by negotiations over final borders, refugees and Jerusalem, but Bush said that it was premature to discuss Palestinian statehood because of continued dissatisfaction with Palestinian leadership.
Powell told Al-Hayat that Bush understands that the Palestinian Authority was, in effect, a government, and that Yasser Arafat was its elected head. "It's up to the Palestinian people to determine who their leader is, to determine who should head their government. And, at the moment, Yasser Arafat is the leader of the Palestinian people," Powell said.
Palestinian and Arab officials were skeptical at Powell's comments. "I don't know what he means by that," said senior PA negotiator Saeb Erekat. Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, asked, "What does provisional mean? Does this mean that we take some of the land now and keep it temporarily or provisionally?"
Media: Sharon rejects idea, but is open to it
Yediot Aharonot reported that President Bush told Sharon in their meeting that support for an interim Palestinian state would be part of the administration's revised vision for the Middle East. The paper reported that Sharon emphatically rejected the idea. When pressed, due to his previous statements supporting the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, Sharon said that he would not support such a declaration at this time, as it would be a "reward for terror."
But a diplomatic source told the Jerusalem Post that Sharon indicated to Bush that he was open to the idea of a declaration of Palestinian statehood prior to negotiations and agreement on final status issues. "He was open to the statehood declaration as one of the phases. Not immediately of course. First there needs to be a cessation of violence and terror," the source said.
According to media reports, Sharon told Bush on his visit to Washington in May that already during interim stages of a long-term peace process, Israel would be willing to offer the Palestinians an independent state, with undefined borders. The condition for this Israeli concession would be that Arafat, who "built an empire of terror," would not be part of the process.
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