Military

DATE=04/17/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-288816

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell has concluded his mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories without mediating a cease-fire to end more than 18-months of violence. As correspondent Meredith Buel reports from Jerusalem, Mr. Powell says Israel must end its military raids in the West Bank, and the Palestinian leadership needs to do more to fight terrorism.

TEXT: Secretary Powell told reporters in Jerusalem it was not possible to negotiate a truce during his trip because of the continuing Israeli military operation in the Palestinian-ruled territory in the West Bank.

He says once the raids are over, both sides can make progress by resuming negotiations about security.

/// POWELL ACT #1 ///

Only with the end of the incursion and with the engagement in security talks can a cease-fire be achieved in reality as well as rhetoric.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Powell says he believes Israel will withdraw from the West Bank soon, and said the United States is working toward a solution to a standoff in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity where Palestinian gunmen are surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks.

Mr. Powell says he bluntly told Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that "terrorism must end."

/// POWELL ACT #2 ///

We are disappointed with Chairman Arafat's performance. We believed all along that he could have done more. I have made it as clear as I can to him that we are and have been disappointed in his performance. It is time for him to make a strategic choice. If he does not make that strategic choice, it becomes very difficult for the United States or anyone else, frankly, to play a role in achieving what the Palestinian people want and that is peace and a state of their own.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Powell says he urged Israel to ease its confinement of Mr. Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and allow the Palestinian leader to communicate with his own people and the outside world.

Secretary Powell says President Bush is prepared to send Central Intelligence Agency (C-I-A) Director George Tenet back to the region to promote security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.

He says other senior U-S officials will be in the region to continue working to end the violence.

Mr. Powell says after arriving back in Washington he plans to discuss with President Bush the possibility of a regional or international conference on ending the conflict in the Middle East. (Signed)

NEB/MB/SAB