Military

DATE=06/11/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CONGRESS/MIDEAST (L)

NUMBER=2-304252

BYLINE=DAN ROBINSON

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Members of Congress say the latest Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel underscores the need for Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to crack down on Palestinian militants. V-O-A's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill:

TEXT: First reports of the bus bombing in Jerusalem came just as the House International Relations Committee was beginning a hearing on the so-called Roadmap for peace.

As committee chairman Henry Hyde read his opening statement predicting inevitable setbacks and the need for miracles, he paused to read a news agency dispatch from Jerusalem:

/// HYDE ACT ///

I have just been handed a note, apparently many people killed in a bus bombing in Jerusalem, just now.

/// END ACT ///

Others on the committee said the latest violence demonstrate the need for strong action against Hamas and other militant groups.

Congressman Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the committee, believes Prime Minister Abbas has not matched Israeli Prime Minister Sharon in actions since peace summit in Aqaba (Jordan):

/// LANTOS ACT ///

Until he does, until he fights Palestinian terrorism with armed force, the new initiative to bring peace to the Middle East will be a road map to nowhere.

/// END ACT ///

Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, William Burns, repeated strong condemnation of the latest bombing.

Mr. Burns said the United States intends to press Israelis and Palestinians to follow through on commitments made at Aqaba.

But he was pressed by Mr. Lantos about two main issues: Prime Minister Abbas' refusal to use force against militants, and realistic prospects that a re-built and re-organized Palestinian security services could deal with these groups:

/// BURNS ACT ///

(BURNS): The goal has to be the decisive defeat, the dis-arming, the de-mobilization, the dis-mantling of terrorist infrastructure.

(LANTOS): May I just stop you there for a minute? Do you anticipate this to be achieved through persuasion?

(BURNS): I think it will have to be achieved with whatever means are necessary to achieve it. And I don't think personally that persuasion alone is going to result in that outcome.

/// END ACT ///

But others on the committee were not satisfied. Congressman Robert Wexler calls the goal of empowering Prime Minister Abbas a "charade" until the question of how the Palestinian security services are going to be rebuilt is answered:

/// WEXLER ACT ///

So long as we stick with our policy of not providing assistant to the Palestinian Authority, how is it that we envision that Prime Minister Abbas will ever have the ability to deal with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the like? Either we are going to provide it, the Israelis are going to provide it, the Egyptians are going to provide it, but it seems so far that no one is providing it so who are we kidding? How can Prime Minister Abbas in any reasonable expectation have the capability to deliver on what we all hope is his genuine mission?

/// END ACT ///

Lawmakers also questioned Mr. Burns about the ability of Prime Minister Abbas to counter the influence of Yasser Arafat, while facing resistance from Palestinian militant groups. (SIGNED)

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