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Senior Bush officials say the PA is not capable of controlling terror, as Masked Palestinian terrorists of the Popular Resistance Committee, a militia linked to the ruling Fatah movement (above) attend a rally in Jebaliya Thursday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners July 1, 2005 |
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Senior Bush officials have informed Congress that, with Israel due to begin evacuating Gaza in six weeks, Palestinian forces are not yet capable of taking charge of security in the area. American Lt. Gen. William Ward, who monitors Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, told the Foreign Relations Committee, "It [security] does not now exist".
"That process will take time," said Ward.
"You need a chain of command," and on any given day, Ward testified, only about 20,000 of the 58,000 Palestinians with security jobs show up for work.
But, he said, "the ability will come in time." Ward said recruitment efforts had begun and Egypt was nearly ready to complete plans to help secure its border with Gaza.
Backing up Ward, who was in Washington for consultations and was due to return to the area at the end of the week, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said he also was discouraged by the state of Palestinian security.
"Overall, Palestinian performance in confronting violence has been far from satisfactory, and this is a real shortfall and area of concern," Welch said.
He said a recent upsurge in violence in Gaza as well as on the West Bank was cause for concern.
Welch said the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas had done a good job in managing its budget but had not developed a justice system while many Arab governments have not provided needed financial support.
"An improved security environment is crucial for progress on Palestinian economic development," he said.
Welch said the Palestinian Authority is obliged under the road map to dismantle terror groups in its areas.
As for Israel, Welch said that while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was committed to the U.S.-backed road map "we do have some concerns" about settlement activities on the West Bank.
But he said if Israel's evacuation of all Jewish settlers and troops goes smoothly, the administration's pursuit of further steps in seeking an overall accord would be easier to undertake.
Neither Welch nor Ward let themselves be drawn into a discussion of what more the administration would ask of Sharon, whose decision to relinquish Gaza energized a normal dormant U.S. peacemaking process in the Middle East.
The committee chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, for one, questioned Sharon as having said there would a "long pause" after the Gaza withdrawal.
A note of optimism was sounded, meanwhile, by James D. Wolfensohn, the international banker who was assigned to help the Palestinian economy by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, the four parties that devised the road map.
Based on 30 days on the job and three trips to Gaza, Wolfensohn said he was hopeful the Israeli pullout from Gaza would lead the two sides to carry out the road map provisions.
"I can say I am more optimistic now than I was a month ago," Wolfensohn said.
"Palestinians must feel that the day after disengagement they have hope for increased prosperity and opportunity, not that they are living a prison," he said.
And, Wolfensohn said, "the Israelis must believe they will be able to live securely beside a Gaza and West Bank controlled by strong Palestinian institutions."
The AP contributed to this report.
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