Israel’s Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is expected to meet Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat Wednesday. Erekat said the new talks would discuss security, political, economic and humanitarian issues.
The sides are due to discuss the possibility of releasing another NIS 70 million of frozen PA tax revenue and the easing of travel restrictions on Palestinians in some areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to CIA Director George Tenet Tuesday about his meeting Saturday with PA Interior Minister Abdel Razak al-Yahya, responsible for security reform. "They [the Palestinians] had good meetings with Mr. Tenet on Saturday, and I talked to George this morning after seeing one account that suggested they did not," Powell said, when asked about prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian security deal.
"But they were very positive meetings and Mr. Tenet is in touch with the Palestinians. I expect him to be calling them again today and to start to operationalize it." CIA chief in Egypt will play key roles in the security reform program, which has gotten off to a slow start.
So far, the CIA director has not made plans to go to the area, but that has not been ruled out, other sources said. "I don't know if George is planning to visit or others working for George would be planning to visit," Powell said. "We do have some people who are there now, working on the problem."
The CIA director told the PA minister he intended to review security measures proposed by the minister and also the findings of a CIA assessment team. Restoring security cooperation "is absolutely vital," State Department deputy spokesman Philip T. Reeker said Tuesday. "And we do hope that significant progress can be made in the days ahead."
A task force which hopes to promote Middle East peace through Palestinian reforms will meet in France this month, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. "It's a step that can assist the Palestinians in their efforts to achieve civil reform," Reeker told a news briefing as he announced the task force's next talks would be in Paris on Aug. 22 and 23.
Reeker said the task force, inaugurated at talks where the U.S. delegation was led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, had set up seven working groups which would report to the Paris talks.
"We hope that those reports will significantly advance the efforts that Palestinians are making to reform civil institutions," Reeker said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
