U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed a promise by Yasser Arafat to reform the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday and said the United States was ready to help.
Powell said he was encouraged that Arafat used the same terms the Bush administration has been using to push for restructuring. "We can help, we can encourage, we can press them, we can contribute to it. But it's something that has to come from within if it's going to be real and it's going to stick," Powell said.
Powell spoke to reporters while en route to Washington after attending a two-day NATO foreign ministers meeting in Iceland.
Powell stressed that the administration also is seeking a greater diplomatic involvement by Arab states in the Mideast crisis, a World Bank role in reconstruction of the Palestinian territories and a meeting of foreign ministers of interested governments this summer.
"There are a lot of little pieces in play," he said. "I hope we can keep building toward the ministerial meeting."
Meanwhile, CIA Director George Tenet is considering whether to hold talks in Washington with Israeli and Palestinian security officials, a U.S. official told AP.
Tenet has been expected to return to the region, where his previous attempts to revamp Palestinian security operations on the West Bank have been, and that remains a possibility, the official told The Associated Press.
Having the talks in the Washington area could give the Bush administration more leverage in overhauling a security system that did not curb suicide attacks on Israel for weeks. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
