WASHINGTON/JENIN, 15 March 2003 — US President George W. Bush said yesterday that a long-awaited international peace plan to resolve the conflict in the Middle East will be delivered to the Palestinian and Israeli governments as soon as a new Palestinian prime minister takes office.
Speaking in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the nominee for the post, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, could take office as early as next week. Palestinian lawmakers must approve Abbas’ nomination.
Bush also called on Israelis to halt settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and for an end to Palestinian violence.
“As progress is made toward peace, settlement activity in the occupied territories must end,” Bush said at the White House with Secretary of State Colin Powell standing beside him.
The United States, Russia, the European Union and United Nations — known as the quartet — have been working on the so-called “road map” to peace during the last several months, but have not publicly discussed the details of the plan.
Palestinian lawmakers earlier this week approved the creation of the post of prime minister after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yielded to international pressure, and nominated his long-time deputy Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, to fill the position. Palestinian lawmakers have yet to confirm his nomination.
“To be a credible and responsible partner, the new Palestinian prime minister must hold a position of real authority,” Bush said. “We expect that such a Palestinian prime minister will be confirmed soon.”
Previously the US diplomats had withheld the plan pending Israeli elections which took place earlier this year and the formation of a new government. A senior administration official said the timing was not an attempt to salvage international support for a war on Iraq, but is a reaction to progress made by Palestinian leadership.
“This is a reaction to what’s happening in the Palestinian institutions,” the official said. “It is an effort to react as we said we would to Palestinian reforms.”
Before his announcement, Bush spoke by telephone with Crown Prince Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdallah of Jordan.
Bush “reiterated the importance of pursuing the path to peace in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made clear he wants numerous revisions to the latest version of the road map, but despite that the Israeli government said it saw eye to eye with Bush.
Bush received a cooler reception from the Palestinians, who sought clarification from Washington that the road map would be implemented and was not being presented for further discussion.
Hours before the president’s announcement, Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinians in a raid on a Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, raising to 10 the number of Palestinians killed in less than 24 hours.
The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of stepping up military action against the 2 1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising for an independent state as world attention focuses on Iraq.
Witnesses said Israeli tanks and helicopter gunships took part in the push into Jenin refugee camp, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in a military sweep through the West Bank nearly a year ago.
“We broke into a house containing four wanted men, who were armed,” Brig. Gen. Gershon Yitzhak told Israel Radio. “(Israeli commandos) beat them to the punch and shot them. An armed guard on the roof who threatened the force was also shot.”
Palestinian witness Umm Bassam said: “The people inside were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and calling on neighbors to rescue them.” He described a blood-splattered scene and dead men in pyjamas.
