US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that he will not introduce a new plan to help settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite increasing pressure on Washington to play a greater role in the Middle East region in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Powell made the remarks in an interview with "Fox News Sunday" one day before he is expected to deliver a major speech on US Middle East policy at the University of Louisville.
"A new plan coming in from the flank isn't what's going to do
it. It's both sides working together, finding ways to talk to each other, so that we can get a real cease-fire in place," the
secretary said.
"People keep asking for a new plan. We have a plan. It's a
solid plan. It's called the Mitchell committee report," he said.
Powell was referring to a peace proposal presented by an international committee headed by former US senator George Mitchell which called for a cease-fire, a six-week cooling-off
period, followed by confidence-building measures from both Israelis and the Palestinians before a return to peace negotiation.
Powell said that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must do his
part to bring to an end a year-long bloody conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians.
He noted that any plan about the creation of a Palestinian
state must be preceded by a reduction of violence in the Middle
East.
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington, both US President George W. Bush and Powell have
talked publicly about the creation of a Palestinian state, saying that the idea has always been a vision of US Middle East policy.
But they also insist that such a plan must be the final stage
of the Middle East peace process.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is widely believed to be a
major factor which trigger terrorist attacks on US interests,
including the September 11 attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2001)
