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.”