WASHINGTON/GAZA, 12 June — US officials remained mum yesterday on the details of proposals CIA chief George Tenet has reportedly given to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in an effort to bring the two sides back to the peace table.
As Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs in Jerusalem to discuss the plan, in Washington, the State Department declined to comment on various reports detailing the proposals.
“I know that there are a lot of press reports, but you won’t be surprised, if I decline to go into details of the specifics that Director Tenet might be discussing,” spokesman Richard Boucher said.
“He’s out there. He’s continuing his work... His goal is part of the ongoing effort to foster an environment to end the violence so he’s been focused on the security situation and steps that the parties can take to make the cease-fire endure.”
Tenet is proposing a six-week cooling-off period to be followed by the implementation of confidence-building measures called for by the US-led Mitchell committee on the violence.
The committee last month called for an immediate cease-fire, an Israeli freeze on Jewish settlement building and full Palestinian efforts to prevent “terrorism” in order to move back to the negotiating table.
According to Israeli media, Tenet’s plan includes a halt to Israeli attacks against autonomous Palestinian sectors, the withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions before the intifada broke out Sept. 28, a lifting of Israel’s blockade on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and action to stop Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinians.
For the Palestinians, the US recommendations focus on the arrest of around two dozen activists from the Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements, confiscation of illegal arms such as mortars and action to prevent anti-Israeli attacks, Israeli newspapers said.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians had presented Tenet with a “complete action plan” for implementation of the Mitchell report, insisting that there could be no separation between security and political issues.
The Israelis and the Palestinians started their security meeting with Tenet late last night in Jerusalem, a Palestinian security official said.
“The Israelis and the Palestinians kicked off last night in Jerusalem a security meeting in the presence of CIA chief George Tenet, during which the latter is expected to hand both sides a document setting the terms which will allow for a reinforcement of the cease-fire,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The source gave a list of Palestinian officials taking part in the three-way meeting: intelligence chief Gen. Amin Al-Hindi, the heads of preventive security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Col. Jibril Rajoub and Muhammad Dahlan, public security chief Ismail Jabr and Gen. Taufik Tirawi, intelligence chief in the West Bank.
Israeli public television confirmed the meeting was under way, adding that “the Palestinians expressed their reservations concerning several points in the document Tenet gave them Sunday night.”
The Israeli delegation was expected to be led by the head of Israel’s internal security service Shin Beth, Avi Dichter, and various high-ranking army officials, television said.
The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of carrying out more than 30 assassinations of Palestinian activists since the start of the uprising, on Sept. 28.
Israel is demanding that the Palestinian Authority put back behind bars dozens of activists from Islamic Jihad and Hamas suspected of having Israeli blood on their hands. But Palestinian International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath told a press conference in Luxembourg after meeting EU foreign ministers that the Palestinian Authority would not “serve as a policeman for Israel.”
In other diplomatic moves, UN chief Kofi Annan is due to start today a weeklong trip to the Middle East.
