New York Times
February 4, 2002

POLICY

Leaders Warn U.S. It Must Deal Head-On With Mideast

By TODD S. PURDUM

In speeches, seminars and four days of private diplomacy, international leaders gathered in Manhattan for the World Economic Forum have warned repeatedly that the Bush administration cannot expect to win a global war on terrorism if does not deal head-on with the Middle East, and despite some signs of new dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, progress remains elusive.

With Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel due at the White House on Thursday, President Bush faces new pressure from Washington's allies in Europe and the Middle East for at least a modest breakthrough to ease the recent wave of violence and harsh polemics, which has left Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, more isolated and the Bush administration more closely aligned than ever with Mr. Sharon's hard-line approach.

"Our objective is and must be a just resolution to the central conflict that has put the brake on progress in the Middle East, and has spread extremism throughout the word," King Abdullah II of Jordan told more than 2,000 politicians, business leaders and scholars yesterday afternoon. "The international community must address itself to solve without delay the Arab-Israeli conflict."

His comments were widely echoed around the Waldorf-Astoria all weekend, and not always in such moderate or modulated tones.

At a discussion on the threat of chemical and biological terrorism and nuclear proliferation, a panel with strong Arab representation agreed that "the Israeli-Palestinian sword" had to be sheathed and Israeli settlements dismantled "if there is not to be a degree of motivation that will make further terrorist attacks inevitable," as one participant put it.

The Turkish foreign minister, Ismail Cem, declared simply at a seminar on Friday, "It seems that it's a process of mutual suicide, a suicidal process which is taking part for both nations."

Javier Solana, director of foreign policy and security for the European Union, spoke of "our frustration, our sadness" at the stalemate, and said the international community had the obligation "to get engaged and to get engaged rapidly, and to get engaged in an intense manner." He said the Palestinian Authority must "do the utmost to stop violence," but he added, "The Israeli government has to begin to get engaged with some political perspective."

Mr. Bush's recent criticism of Mr. Arafat and his almost complete public embrace of Mr. Sharon's view that the Palestinian leader cannot be trusted caused grumbling among some conference participants.

But there was also acknowledgment that only the United States had the power to prod the parties to progress, and calls for action were aimed squarely at the Bush administration.

Hubert Védrine, the French foreign minister and a frequent critic of American policy, praised what he called "indefatigable" efforts by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Mr. Solana in the Middle East, but added: "If we want the responsible Palestinian authorities to commit themselves fully to the fight against terrorism, which is also their enemy, they must be given a political space, political oxygen, a political perspective. If you say we won't resume the peace process until terrorism is defeated, the terrorists will be the winners."

Behind the scenes, in corridors and hotel suites, a flurry of diplomatic activity accompanied the public proclamations of concern. Secretary Powell met privately with the Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, who in turn met for almost two hours late Friday with the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Ahmed Qurei, who is in turn to meet with Secretary Powell in Washington today.

But Mr. Peres had no sooner briefed reporters in New York on his talks with Mr. Qurei than word came from Israel that Mr. Sharon had told a cabinet meeting yesterday that he continued to oppose Mr. Peres's and Mr. Qurei's ideas for resuming talks, and had told Mr. Qurei so himself when they met last week.

Mr. Peres said he believed that the Palestinians wanted a cease-fire as the means to a political solution, and were "ready to begin" by dismantling violent groups associated with the Palestinian Authority. If that happens, he said, each side could recognize the other's right to statehood, and detailed negotiations could follow on borders and the issue of Jerusalem. "Basically, I think it's better talking than shooting, but if you cannot stop shooting, you shouldn't stop talking," Mr. Peres said in a session with journalists on Saturday. But even Mr. Peres, a former Israeli prime minister and a dove in the current government, bluntly rejected the notion that the conflict was an impediment to worldwide efforts to defeat terrorism.

In his speech yesterday, King Abdullah referred to "the burning injustice of Palestine" and said, "The present situation in the Palestinian areas is very dangerous and requires immediate international intervention to help steer the parties away from the brink."

Yesterday, Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, Secretary Powell and other senior administration officials repeated their position that Mr. Arafat had to take more direct steps to crack down on violent militants under the Palestinian umbrella, and account for the Palestinians' role in the 50-ton shipment of Iranian-supplied weapons that Israel seized at sea last month.

"We don't believe that we've seen 100 percent effort," Ms. Rice said on "Fox News Sunday."

Secretary Powell, speaking on the CBS News program "Face the Nation," said: "Chairman Arafat has to act. He has to do a lot more to get the violence under control, to persuade the Palestinian people and all of these Palestinian organizations that they are destroying the vision of a Palestinian state by violent acts."

Still, American officials say Mr. Bush assured King Abdullah in a meeting at the White House on Friday that Washington did not intend to end ties with Mr. Arafat completely.