Powell: Both sides must work for Mideast cease-fire
Calls on Israel to end settlements, Arafat to stop terrorism
April 17, 2002 Posted: 2:26 PM EDT (1826 GMT)

Powell is returning to the United States on Wednesday
after a 10-day Middle East mission
JERUSALEM -- Saying "cease-fire is not a relevant term at the moment," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell headed home Wednesday after wrapping up a 10-day mission aimed at stemming the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Powell met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, West Bank, then made a speech in Jerusalem before leaving Israel. 

Powell said the United States has an "unshakable" commitment to Israel's security, but said the Israeli incursion into the West Bank would have to end before "a cease-fire can be achieved in reality as well as rhetoric.

" He also reiterated calls for Arafat to "dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and stop incitement." 

"In my meetings with Chairman Arafat, I made it clear that he and the Palestinian Authority can no longer equivocate," Powell said. "They must decide, as the rest of the world has decided, that terrorism must end. Chairman Arafat must take that message to his people." 

Powell also said Israel should decide "whether the time has come.. to look beyond the destructive impact of settlements and occupation, both of which must end, consistent with the clear positions taken by President Bush." (Transcript of Powell's speech) 

A three-part "comprehensive strategy" is needed to solve the Middle East crisis, Powell said. It includes security and freedom from terror and violence for Israelis and Palestinians; serious and accelerated negotiations; and economic and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. 

Powell said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns will remain in the region and U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni will return. Powell said he would come back himself, but he gave no timetable. A senior U.S. official, however, said Powell planned to return to the region "next month." 

The United States will resume security contacts with the Palestinian Authority to "restore effective security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians," Powell said, adding that Bush was willing to send CIA Director George Tenet to the region to work with both sides on the issue. 

Addressing the Israeli military operation in the West Bank, Powell said, "I stressed to [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] the urgency of completing withdrawal, and have been assured of real results in the next few days." 

In a speech at Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday, Bush thanked Powell for his "hard work at a difficult task" and said the secretary of state had made "progress toward peace." 

Arafat defiant after Powell meeting
CNN's Andrea Koppel, traveling with the secretary's delegation, said Powell looked grim as he came out of the meeting with Arafat, who charged that Israel has not truly withdrawn from West Bank cities like Tulkarem and Qalqilya. He said Israeli forces had come back to Tulkarem on Tuesday. He also demanded the international community end his isolation. 

After the meeting ended, Powell stood silently in a doorway with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, who later said Sharon had ''scuttled'' Powell's trip. 

Behind them in a darkened hallway, Arafat could be heard by reporters saying, "Is it acceptable that I can't go out of the door?" 

The U.S. delegation has tried to secure a cease-fire commitment from Arafat and the surrender of men in his besieged compound who Israel says are behind the assassination last October of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi. 

It also wants Arafat to hand over Fouad Shobaki, a top Palestinian official the Israelis believe is responsible for the attempted smuggling of weapons on the ship Karine-A earlier this year. 

Sharon has said Israeli troops will stay in Ramallah until the men give up. The Palestinians have said they will not negotiate until Israeli troops pull out of the West Bank towns and areas they began entering on March 29. 

Israeli minister denies Jenin massacre
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Wednesday that "no more than 45" Palestinians died in fighting at the refugee camp in the West Bank town of Jenin. Palestinian officials have charged that Israeli troops killed more than 500 Palestinians at the camp and buried many of them in mass graves. 

"We never massacred people," Ben-Eliezer said in an interview with CNN. He defended the conduct of his country's armed forces in Jenin, which he called the "capital of the terror." (Full story) 

In Bethlehem, the fighting continued as gunfire was reported Tuesday night outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank. About 200 Palestinians are taking refuge in the church, including 30 that Israel says are terrorists. 

Palestinian security sources said Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers had thrown what were believed to be tear gas grenades inside the south entrance of the church, at the Franciscan Monastery. They said the area was on fire, with IDF forces firing with machine guns. 

The IDF said its troops were conducting operations in the area and said the shooting was coming from a number of sources. It said it had not entered the church and was not attacking it. 

Sharon said Monday that Israel had agreed with the U.S. on a plan to end the standoff at the church. However, a U.S. official said Tuesday night that the plan was "not going well." 

Under the plan, the Palestinians would give up their weapons. Those whom Israel has not accused of terrorist activity would be freed. Those Israel has accused of terrorism would have the choice of facing trial in Israel or accepting exile for life in another country. 

Israel began its West Bank military operation on March 29. Sharon has said the operation will end when the Israeli military has rooted out what he calls the "terrorist infrastructure." Palestinians have accused Israel of trying to reoccupy the West Bank.