Powell calls again for Palestinian leader to cede authority over security
Posted: Friday, October 29, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell refused to speculate on Yasser Arafat's health Friday but urged the Palestinian leader to yield control of security in Palestinian-run areas to a prime minister as a way of furthering peace.
It would give Israel a partner for negotiations, Powell said in an interview with Egyptian Television and Nile News. Like the Bush administration, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refuses to deal with Arafat, the longtime symbol of the Palestinian movement.
U.S. policy, Powell said, is that "we believe the Palestinian people would be better off with an empowered prime minister who has political authority and who has control of the security forces."
Powell said the Palestinian Authority should get ready to assume responsibility for Gaza, which Israel intends to evacuate next year.
What might have started as a unilateral action by Israel, Powell said, now could give the Palestinians a way to hold negotiations with Israel on an overall settlement.
Referring also to the planned abandonment of a handful of Jewish settlements on the West Bank, Powell said, "It is an opportunity the that should be grabbed by the Palestinian Authority."
"Everybody has wanted settlements to be gone," Powell said and described the pullout on the West Bank as an initial step.
"Let's get started," he said. "Let's work to make sure that the transition from 21 settlements in Gaza to no settlements in Gaza is handled in an efficient way so that the Palestinian Authority can have full political and security control over Gaza."
At the same time, Powell sidestepped questions about whether he would expect a struggle for power if Arafat should not survive the ailments for which he was being treated in a French hospital.
"I don't think it would be wise for any of us to put out hypotheticals as to what would happen after Chairman Arafat leaves," Powell said.
Arafat was flown to France on Friday and was rushed to a military hospital where doctors, including specialists in blood disorders, immediately began examining him.
"I am pleased that he is now in a sophisticated medical facility where his health condition can be more carefully assessed," Powell said. "I trust he will get the treatment that he needs. But I have no independent knowledge with respect to his medical condition."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, with President Bush on a campaign trip to New Hampshire and elsewhere, said, "Our focus has been on making sure he gets the medical treatment he needs."
McClellan did not respond to a question whether the Bush administration wanted Israel to guarantee Arafat could return to Palestinian-held land.
The health crisis brought the 75-year-old Arafat out of his sandbagged headquarters compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah for the first time in nearly three years.
AP-CS-10-29-04 1415EDT
It would give Israel a partner for negotiations, Powell said in an interview with Egyptian Television and Nile News. Like the Bush administration, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refuses to deal with Arafat, the longtime symbol of the Palestinian movement.
U.S. policy, Powell said, is that "we believe the Palestinian people would be better off with an empowered prime minister who has political authority and who has control of the security forces."
Powell said the Palestinian Authority should get ready to assume responsibility for Gaza, which Israel intends to evacuate next year.
What might have started as a unilateral action by Israel, Powell said, now could give the Palestinians a way to hold negotiations with Israel on an overall settlement.
Referring also to the planned abandonment of a handful of Jewish settlements on the West Bank, Powell said, "It is an opportunity the that should be grabbed by the Palestinian Authority."
"Everybody has wanted settlements to be gone," Powell said and described the pullout on the West Bank as an initial step.
"Let's get started," he said. "Let's work to make sure that the transition from 21 settlements in Gaza to no settlements in Gaza is handled in an efficient way so that the Palestinian Authority can have full political and security control over Gaza."
At the same time, Powell sidestepped questions about whether he would expect a struggle for power if Arafat should not survive the ailments for which he was being treated in a French hospital.
"I don't think it would be wise for any of us to put out hypotheticals as to what would happen after Chairman Arafat leaves," Powell said.
Arafat was flown to France on Friday and was rushed to a military hospital where doctors, including specialists in blood disorders, immediately began examining him.
"I am pleased that he is now in a sophisticated medical facility where his health condition can be more carefully assessed," Powell said. "I trust he will get the treatment that he needs. But I have no independent knowledge with respect to his medical condition."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, with President Bush on a campaign trip to New Hampshire and elsewhere, said, "Our focus has been on making sure he gets the medical treatment he needs."
McClellan did not respond to a question whether the Bush administration wanted Israel to guarantee Arafat could return to Palestinian-held land.
The health crisis brought the 75-year-old Arafat out of his sandbagged headquarters compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah for the first time in nearly three years.
AP-CS-10-29-04 1415EDT
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