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Palestinians Want U.S. More Active In Talks

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The New York Times

Published: May 4, 2008

JERUSALEM - Seeking a more active U.S. role in talks with Israel, Palestinians say they hope that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will "take a stand" on the borders of a future Palestinian state and define them as corresponding with the 1967 lines, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday.

"One-nine-six-seven - we need to hear these four digits," Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said in a telephone interview.

He was speaking hours before Rice was scheduled to arrive in the region for the second time in little more than a month, amid increasingly bleak assessments by Palestinian officials about the progress being made in peace negotiations with Israel, including over borders.

Rice said Saturday she will ask Israel to remove more physical barriers erected in the West Bank as a bulwark against Palestinian militants.

The Bush administration also would like to see speedier progress toward a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, a goal of President Bush in his final year in office, Rice said en route to Israel and the West Bank for weekend meetings.

Bush's top diplomat said it's too early for pessimism, despite a lack of obvious accomplishment in the talks Bush began with lofty ideals five months ago.

Rice suggested she will lean on Israel to yank West Bank roadblocks that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says strangle the Palestinian economy.

Despite Erekat's urging, it is unlikely that Rice will take an open role as referee. The Bush administration has made it clear that the borders must be settled upon in direct talks between the parties.

The Palestinians have been particularly angered by Israeli plans to build thousands of new apartments in territory conquered in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel says it is building in existing neighborhoods and settlements that it intends to keep under any future deal.

The content of the negotiations on the core issues of the conflict has largely been kept under wraps. But Israeli government officials said they wanted to start with borders, an issue they considered easier than others, like the future status of Jerusalem and the question of the 1948 Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

Rice was meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday night before meetings today in Abbas' West Bank stronghold. Rice has visited the region nearly every month since the formal launch of peace talks last year, nudging both sides but so far yielding no public breakthroughs.

TROOPS ENTER WEST BANK

JENIN, West Bank - Hundreds of flag-waving Palestinian troops took up positions in the former militant stronghold of Jenin on Saturday, part of President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to assert control over once lawless West Bank towns and encourage an Israeli withdrawal.

Jenin is the second town in which newly trained Palestinian troops were deployed in large numbers, and the city of Hebron is next.

"I hope this will be a step in the direction of restoring full Palestinian security jurisdiction in these areas," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "So far this has not been done, and if the Israelis continue coming ... to Nablus and Jenin, this would undermine our effort."

About 480 officers from the National Security and the Presidential Guard, dressed in black and khaki uniforms, marched into Jenin. Thousands flocked to the town's center to cheer on the forces, which will beef up the area's existing force of 1,500 officers.

The Associated Press

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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