12 June 2003
Terrorists Trying to Destroy Mideast Peace Process, U.S. Says
(Issue not Israel or Palestinian Authority, but terrorist
organizations) (830)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- The White House and State Department said June 12 that
the Islamic militant group Hamas and other like-minded groups opposed
to an Israeli state are trying to stop the U.S.-led Middle East peace
process.
"[M]ake no mistake, what is happening here are that the enemies of
Israel, the enemies of the Palestinian Authority, the enemies of Prime
Minister [Mahmoud] Abbas, the enemies of peace are trying to stop a
hopeful process from moving forward," White House Press Secretary Ari
Fleischer told reporters.
"The issue is not Israel. The issue is not the Palestinian Authority.
The issue are terrorists who are killing in an attempt to stop a
hopeful process from moving forward. They are killing because they are
terrorists."
"The issue is Hamas. The terrorists are Hamas. Hamas is no friend to
the Palestinian Authority. Hamas is a threat to everything that Prime
Minister Abbas and those people in the Palestinian Authority who seek
to create a state stand for," Fleischer said.
He said that President Bush is "personally involved" in efforts to
stop the violence, and had directed Secretary of State Colin Powell
and National Security Council officials to make a series of phone
calls to leaders in the area.
"But, it's not as if a phone call will get Hamas to stop being
terrorists. What's important is for everybody in the region to work
together to defeat Hamas and violent terrorist organizations,"
Fleischer said.
In the last few days, a suicide bus bombing in Israel, claimed by
Hamas as its work, and three air strikes by Israel on Hamas targets in
Gaza have killed more than 30 Israelis and Palestinians and wounded
more than 130 others.
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher announced June 12 that
Secretary Powell will be in Jordan June 22 to attend the World
Economic Forum, along with leaders of Russia, the European Union and
the United Nations -- all cosponsors with the United States of the
"roadmap" for peace in the Middle East.
The so-called "Quartet" principals "will review the results of the Red
Sea summit meetings in Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba and how best to
assist Israeli and Palestinian efforts to end terror and violence and
make progress towards President Bush's vision of two states, Israel
and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," Boucher
told reporters.
He said that Powell had been on the phone to discuss the Middle East
with a number of foreign leaders in the last two days.
"So far today the secretary's had phone calls with Israeli Foreign
Minister Shalom, Jordanian Foreign Minister Muasher, Saudi Foreign
Minister Saud Al-Faysal, Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher. I'd point
out that yesterday ... he talked to Foreign Secretary Straw, a number
of Europeans -- Italian Foreign Minister Frattini, German Foreign
Minister Fischer. And the Middle East was key topic in all those
discussions as it was today in his conversation this morning with
Swedish Foreign Minister Lindh."
The subject of the secretary's phone calls, Boucher said, is "how to
stop the terrorism; to remind people of all the commitments that were
made on the Red Sea last week, particularly in his conversations with
the Arab states, to talk to them about the things that they were going
to do, that they can do, to help the Palestinians build a capability
to stop the terrorist groups from getting money from whatever
sources."
The funding to "Hamas, the people in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the
al-Aqsa Brigade, all these organizations, they need to find their
funding cut off, their support cut off and their ability to operate
cut off. And we think that everybody in the region, not just Israelis
and Palestinians, but everybody in the region should be focused on
doing that right now."
Regarding Israeli actions against the terrorists, Boucher said "Israel
has a need to defend itself but it should do that in a way that
furthers the long-term goal of peace. That's what the president said
the other day. We haven't changed that view."
Asked how Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas can fight the terrorists,
White House Press Secretary Fleischer responded that "the ability of
the Palestinian Authority to take action against terror will be
enhanced as the Arab nations work with the Palestinian Authority, and
as Israel works with the Palestinian Authority."
"There is a widespread recognition that the Arab nations want to dry
up the funding for the terrorists groups, and do everything they can
to bolster the Palestinian Authority in a variety of ways -- economic,
security, political, diplomatic," Fleischer said.
Fleischer said "the history in the region is clear that whenever there
are the brightest moments of hope, the terrorist work hardest to
strike. What's important is that the terrorists be stopped so that
progress toward peace can be resumed."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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