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| JORDAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER | |
 July 18, 2002  |
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Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher describes an Arab initiative for peace. (Background
Report) |
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PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: (June 24) Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty. IGOR IVANOV, Foreign Minister, Russia (Translated): It is only for the Palestinian people to decide who they want to have as their leader. It is their sovereign right. As for President Arafat, he is the legitimately elected leader of Palestine, and while he is in this capacity, we will continue to maintain our relations with him. KWAME HOLMAN: But yesterday during a joint news conference with Poland's president, Mr. Bush renewed his demand for Arafat's ouster. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: The issue is much bigger than a person, as far as I'm concerned. Mr. Arafat has failed to deliver. I still feel that way. And I know the Palestinian people will be better served by new leadership.
KWAME HOLMAN: President Bush and the foreign ministers then met for about 30 minutes. |
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| Jordan's foreign minister | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mr. Minister, welcome. MARWAN MUASHER: Thank you. JIM LEHRER: The plan that you offered today to President Bush for a Palestinian state, what kind of, give us a feel for what kind of government, in general terms, would result from this proposal.
We were very encouraged by what the president said both privately and publicly about his vision of peace, which includes a Palestinian state in three years and security for all countries of the region and his commitment to work together with all of us on a road map that would take us to that endgame.
MARWAN MUASHER: I think the next step is to ensure, as I said, that the security situation is specified. JIM LEHRER: But I mean within that, how do you -- security is security, is security. It depends on who's saying it. What do you need to happen next? What do you want to happen next to get to a security situation that works?
JIM LEHRER: Move on the security front -- and yet as we just reported and as everybody knows, just in the last two days -- there were two new terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. So what does that mean? What does that say about the state of security from the Palestinian side?
The only way we can do this is to put together all our efforts, both to work on the security aspects, but also to relaunch a political process that gives people hope that in three years they can witness the end of the occupation. I think the Arab states are very serious in working with the Palestinians in order to effect these security arrangements, and I think the results of these arrangements will start to occur soon. |
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| Stopping the violence | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MARWAN MUASHER: No one can say that we can 100 percent stop the terror attacks. Israel has not been able to do that with all its military might and occupation of the West Bank. What we can say is that we can put a 100 percent effort not only by the Palestinians, but by all Arab states and by the United States, in making sure that we give the Palestinians every logistical help they need in rebuilding their apparatus and moving against these organizations. JIM LEHRER: President Bush has said many, many times in the last several weeks that he does not believe Yasser Arafat, as the head of the Palestinian Authority, is committed to stopping this violence. Did that come up today in your discussion?
JIM LEHRER: But would you not agree that President Bush is clearly saying from his point of view, it's never going to work as long as Yasser Arafat is in charge? MARWAN MUASHER: I think what we've seen is a commitment by the administration not to have this issue stand in the way of progress. I think we are both focused on the reform process, focused on moving forward, and I think we're both committed to see that happen, even while we disagree on this issue. |
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| A new Palestinian government | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MARWAN MUASHER: I think we are looking at two phases: Phase one takes us from now to the elections after a new constitution is approved by the Palestinians, one that has a clear separation of powers, a parliamentary system; and other details that I think is up to the Palestinians to talk about. But beyond that, once the elections take place, then we are talking about another phase, a road map that would take us from the elections to, say, mid 2005, which is the date at which a Palestinian state is supposed to be independent and to exist on the basis of the '67 borders. JIM LEHRER: And you and your Arab colleagues agree with that timetable?
JIM LEHRER: Is the leadership of the Palestinian Authority committed to this time line, as well? MARWAN MUASHER: Yes, they are. We believe they are, and as I said, we are committed, as Arab states, to help see this through. We have come up with an Arab initiative in Beirut in March of this year in which we committed not just the Arab states neighboring Israel or those who have territorial disputes with Israel, but we have committed the full Arab world, every single Arab state, to collectively guarantee the security of Israel and to collectively guarantee the end of the conflict and that there will be no further claims. And I think this is a very important point to make, that we are now working as Arab states in order to make sure that we have a comprehensive settlement to this conflict.
MARWAN MUASHER: I think we wanted, first, to assure the president that we continue to work we closely and continue to do our part in this process to make sure that we move forward. We also wanted to make sure that there is a commitment to an endgame and a time line, and we see that, we saw that commitment loud and clear by the president, by the secretary. We also wanted to ensure that we sit together and work out, as I said, a detailed road map with benchmarks, with obligations, with a monitoring group to ensure that we are on the right track to that endgame. And I can safely say that we come out of the meeting very encouraged that, on all these fronts, we saw a determined president, a determined administration to work with all of us in order to achieve this. |
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| What happens next? | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MARWAN MUASHER: What happens next is, as I said, making sure the security-- JIM LEHRER: No, but I mean specifically. Who meets with whom? Whose responsibility now, after this meeting today, whose responsibility is to go from this place and do something?
JIM LEHRER: To help them do what? MARWAN MUASHER: The U.S. security agencies are working, also, to produce a security plan that everybody agrees to that has timetables and that has bench marks associated with it. We are also-- JIM LEHRER: Excuse me. Wait. Let me stop you. A security plan. Now, what do you mean by a security plan? Is this police officers at certain places at certain border crossings, at, training new police officers for the Palestinian Authority? What exactly do you mean? MARWAN MUASHER: All of the above. Retraining of Palestinian officers, logistical support, rebuilding the institutions that can take effective measures against outlaws or those who want to engage in terrorist acts making sure that we have unified command of the security agencies all of the above. Putting together a system that ensures that we have full security for the Palestinians and for the Israelis, as well.
MARWAN MUASHER: I'm talking about a system in place that not just moves against terrorist people, but that can take effective measures in ensuring a quiet and pass if I'd security situation and ensure that there are no terrorist attacks. Yes. And I also -- I'm talking about Israeli commitments on the other side, as I said, humanitarian, economic, as well as withdrawal to ensure that we have elections. JIM LEHRER: Did you ask President Bush to lean on the Israelis to do the kinds of things that you want done if you are able to do what you're supposed to, what you commit yourself to do?
JIM LEHRER: You know, Mr. Minister, there have been meetings and meetings and meetings for years on all of this, and they're always optimistic -- there have been usually optimistic reports like you have just given from this particular meeting. Is there any reason to be particularly optimistic, more optimistic this time than, say, the last time or the time before that and the time before that? MARWAN MUASHER: I'm not trying to be optimistic or pessimistic here. What I want to say is that everybody in the international community, the U.S., the quartet, Arab states, everyone, is committed now to an endgame in three years. This is new. This has not been there in the past. We are committed to an overall framework to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. We are also committed to a time frame of three years in order to achieve that. That is a new development. But I never, and I will not say that the road to achieve that will be smooth or rosy. What I can say is that we detected today a commitment from the U.S. at the highest level to help us achieve that objective in three years. JIM LEHRER: All right, Mr. Minister, thank you very much. MARWAN MUASHER: Thank you. |
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KWAME
HOLMAN: Suicide blasts rocked Israel again last night in a second straight
day of deadly attacks. Two Palestinian bombers blew themselves up almost
simultaneously in a busy pedestrian area in downtown Tel Aviv. Three
people were killed, dozens were injured. A militant group, the Islamic
Jihad, claimed responsibility. 
The
explosions came a day after Palestinian gunmen dressed as Israeli soldiers
ambushed a bus filled with Jewish settlers in the West Bank, killing
eight. Three militant Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for
that attack. During the Israeli army's manhunt for the attackers, a
gunfight in the West Bank resulted in the deaths of a Palestinian and
an Israeli soldier. On Wednesday, Israeli warplanes struck a Palestinian
factory in the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials claimed it was used to
make bombs. Palestinians said it produced machinery. 
Since
the Israeli army began occupying several Palestinian cities in the West
Bank last month, there had been no Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
The occupation followed back-to- back suicide bombings in Jerusalem
June 20. This week, Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority condemned
the recent attacks, but in a statement released yesterday, it blamed
Israel for creating "the suitable atmosphere for such operations
which we condemn." 
Today,
the Israeli army cracked down on security, carrying out searches and
questioning Palestinian students at an Islamic university in the West
Bank. In more than 21 months of fighting since the Palestinian uprising
began, some 600 Israelis and nearly 1,800 Palestinians have been killed.
In
New York Tuesday, diplomatic envoys from the U.S., Russia, the European
Union, and the United Nations met. Calling themselves "the quartet,"
the group worked to come up with a roadmap for settling the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. But the U.S. has split sharply with the rest of the group
on Arafat's leadership role. The Bush administration has said Arafat
has done little to stop the violence. 
KWAME
HOLMAN: Today, after meeting in Washington with the foreign ministers
of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, Secretary of State Colin Powell
said the U.S. still was committed to forging a political solution for
peace in the Middle East. The ministers were in town to present their
detailed plan for creating a new Palestinian government. Later in the
day, they delivered it to President Bush at the White House. He spoke
before they met. 
PRESIDENT
GEORGE W. BUSH: Our vision of peace says it ought to be two states living
side by side in peace. Our vision for peace recognizes that there must
be security in the region. Our vision for peace understands that too
many Palestinians suffer. They suffer from lack of food and basic services.
Our vision for peace understands that all parties have got responsibilities.
The United States has a responsibility. The neighborhood has responsibilities.
Israelis have responsibilities. Palestinians have responsibilities.
And we will continue to work with all parties to achieve the pathway
to peace. 
JIM
LEHRER: And with me now to explain the plan is Jordan's foreign minister,
Marwan Muasher.
MARWAN
MUASHER: First of all, let me point out that we did not offer any concrete
and detailed plan that is fully fledged. What we did was offer some
ideas how to move forward from now to the elections and then beyond
the elections to the end of the three-year period, after which we hope
a Palestinian state will be established. We talked about the need to
deal with the security aspects immediately. As you know, we are against
suicide bombings from a moral and political point of view. 
We
talked about ideas that we have that we are working with Palestinians
to ensure that they rebuild their security apparatus and are able to
move firmly against these organizations. We also talked about political
reform and the ideas that the Palestinians have in order to reform the
Palestinian Authority and come up with a constitution that basically
have separation of powers and a responsible government. But we also
talked about Israeli commitments and obligations, in particular the
humanitarian needs. As you know, the situation in the Palestinian Authority
is bleak, as the president pointed out, and needs immediate attention.
We also need Israel to withdraw from areas it occupied to pre-September
28, 2000, if the elections are to take place. I think the road map from
now to the elections is very clear. 
JIM
LEHRER: Now, what's the next step on your road map? 
MARWAN
MUASHER: As I said, there are efforts by all of us, Jordan, Egypt and
the United States, to come up with a security plan that is coordinated
with the Palestinians in order to put together the necessary arrangements
and institutions to make sure that we move effectively against these
organizations that practice terror. Remember, the Israelis today are
in control of the West Bank, and they themselves have not been able
to stop the terrorist attacks that took place in the last few days.
We need to all work together in order to do this. But what we see today
is a firm and clear Palestinian commitment to do that and to move on
the security front so that we can deal with the political aspects of
the problem. 
MARWAN
MUASHER: I think what it means is that we cannot hope to just deal with
the security aspect of the problem without also dealing with the other
aspects, the economic situation or track and the political track. As
I said, again, the Palestinians today are not in control of the West
Bank. Mr. Sharon and the Israeli government is, and they could not stop
these attacks. 
JIM
LEHRER: But you're not saying though, that you can stop the terrorist
attacks? 
MARWAN
MUASHER: It did not come up in any extended way. I think we, first of
all, both agree to disagree on this issue and to focus on the reform
process itself. I think we both agree that the issue is bigger than
any one person. We both agree that the reform process has to be put
in place by the Palestinians so that a strong government emerges, one
that is accountable and responsible and able to take decisions. And
once that is in place, then I think it is up to the Palestinians to
elect their leaders. We cannot be in a position to tell the Palestinians
to elect who their leaders are in a democratically free election. 
JIM
LEHRER: So that means that your government and the governments of Saudi
Arabia and Egypt and others in the Arab world are committing to help
the Palestinians find the Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the other organizations
that are opposed to the peace process and who have openly claimed responsibility
for the terrorist acts?