OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 28 July — A senior Palestinian official said yesterday the United States had invited senior Palestinian Authority Cabinet ministers to Washington for talks with top officials there early next month. It would be the most senior contact between the US administration and Palestinian Authority officials since President George W. Bush called last month for Yasser Arafat to be sidelined as Palestinian leader.
Palestinian Cabinet minister and senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said the delegation would include himself and new Interior Minister Abdel Razzak Al-Yaha, who is in charge of the Palestinian security forces. There was no immediate confirmation from the United States. The talks would take place on Aug. 5 and 6, Erekat told reporters. He said they would focus on the latest developments in the region. Palestinian Trade Minister Maher Al-Masri would also be in the delegation, he said.
The UN Security Council put off until tomorrow its debate over an Arab-backed resolution demanding Israel withdraw from seven Palestinian-ruled cities occupied after a wave of suicide bombings last month. The Council delayed the vote after the United States said the resolution must also condemn three Palestinian groups behind a bombing campaign against Israel.
The Council talks Friday on the Middle East adjourned quickly after the United States said it would oppose any resolution that does not meet conditions laid down by Washington amid renewed Israeli-Palestinian violence. Diplomatic sources said a resolution proposed by Syria demanding an immediate end to violence in the Middle East, including military action and terrorism, was tabled until tomorrow.
US Ambassador John Negroponte said Washington would oppose the proposed resolution because it “does not advance the case for peace. “The United States will not support the text. A change of language will not make a difference,” he said.
British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, the current Council president, said on an issue this important the Council would require a “full consensus,” explaining that the session was adjourned so representatives could consult their governments.
“I believe the draft resolution is designed to strike a very reasonable balance and, indeed, to achieve consensus among the members of the Security Council,” Palestinian representative Nasser Al-Kidwa complained.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres has admitted that he is unsure whether Sharon could be a credible partner for peace in the Middle East conflict, according to an interview to be published in Berlin tomorrow. In response to a statement that “many Israelis doubt whether Ariel Sharon could be a partner for peace,” Peres told the German weekly Der Spiegel: “Me too, I have my doubts.”
“But what should I do about them? Collect them?” he asked afterward, adding: “As long as I feel able to change something and balance (the situation), I will stay” in the Sharon government. The Labour Party minister renewed his regret over Monday’s raid. Peres called it “an error of judgment, a 100-percent mistake.” “The result clearly shows that we used the wrong weapon. The bomb was more destructive than it was useful,” he said. Peres had first said on Wednesday that “a mistake happened during the raid on Shehade.”
