*EPF203 03/05/2002
Excerpt: Powell Calls Sharon about Escalating Violence
(Boucher says both parties have "obligation" to halt tragedy) (1850)

Secretary of State Colin Powell called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon March 5 to discuss the mounting wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence and casualties, according to State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher.

Boucher said the Bush administration was deeply troubled by the escalating attacks, and he called on both sides to consider the consequences of their actions.

"Both sides have an obligation to halt the ongoing tragedy, to avoid escalation, to desist from provocation and incitement, and to cease immediately attacks that harm civilians," he said at his regular media briefing in Washington March 5.

He said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must act now to confront those responsible for terror and violence, and the Israeli Defense Forces must exercise the utmost restraint and discipline to avoid harm to civilians.

Boucher condemned the bombing of a Palestinian school March 5 by an extremist group that left eight Palestinian school children injured and Israel's practice of targeted killings.

He welcomed the efforts of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is on a state visit to Washington, to use his contacts with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to seek an end to the violence and return to negotiations.

Following is an excerpt related to the Middle East from Boucher's March 5 briefing:

(begin excerpt)

QUESTION: Do you have anything -- do you have any words on the violence in the last 24 hours in the Middle East?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes. Let me review that. We are deeply troubled by the escalating violence in the Middle East. We have urged both sides to do all they can to bring it to an immediate end. Secretary Powell spoke with Prime Minister Sharon this morning about the situation, and about what needs to be done to end the violence and get to a cease-fire.

Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must act now to confront those responsible for terror and violence. Terrorist attacks such as those that have occurred over the past three days can only harm the interests of the Palestinian people, and progress towards a future of peace and security.

We respect Israel's right to self-defense. At the same time, it is imperative that Israeli defense forces exercise the utmost restraint and discipline to avoid further harm to civilians. In this context, Israeli military actions in densely populated civilian areas and attacks on or near Palestinian Authority administrative and security facilities clearly work against the overriding objective of reducing the violence and returning to negotiations.

We also note the bombing of a Palestinian school this morning by an extremist group that left eight Palestinian schoolchildren injured. We strongly condemn all such terrorist acts, including this targeting of innocent Palestinian children.

At this time, we call upon both sides to consider the consequences of their actions. Both sides have an obligation to halt the ongoing tragedy, to avoid escalation, to desist from provocation and incitement, and to cease immediately attacks that harm civilians. Their focus must remain on establishing an enduring cease-fire through implementation as quickly as possible of the Tenet security work plan and the Mitchell Committee recommendations, and thereby a resumption of the political process.

QUESTION: I'm assuming that there's no news on General Zinni's travel plans? And can you --

MR. BOUCHER: No. He will go back when it's appropriate and useful.

QUESTION: Can you explain to us why this is not the best time for him to go, given that Secretary Powell, when he was appointed, said he was exactly the right kind of man to bang heads together? I don't know if he used the phrase "bang heads together," but he used something like --

MR. BOUCHER: He used something like that, yes.

QUESTION: So why not now?

MR. BOUCHER: I think the point is that we don't send envoys just to have somebody out there. We send envoys out when there's something useful that can be done, and that requires a certain willingness of the parties to take the steps that are necessary to stop the violence. We have been looking to Chairman Arafat to take steps to stop the violence, to take steps to dismantle the groups that perpetrate the violence. And until we start seeing the possibility, or start seeing those kinds of steps, until we start seeing that, we wouldn't necessarily send an envoy out. The Secretary and General Zinni and the others that work this will make the appropriate decisions when they think it's useful and appropriate.

The United States remains involved in all kinds of ways -- at the Secretary's level, through our contacts, the President today is talking to President Mubarak, our contacts with others in the region, our direct contacts with the parties through our representatives in the region. And we're working very hard with the parties to try to end the violence, obtain a cease-fire, implement as quickly as possible the Tenet and Mitchell recommendations, establish a basis of security cooperation so that they can prevent these kind of incidents before they happen.

QUESTION: Yesterday one of the horrible terrorist strikes was claimed by a group called the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades, which has come up before. Is there any further consideration at the State Department being given right now to putting this group on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, considering this is not the first time that they have claimed responsibility for an act that has harmed civilians and killed civilians?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything new on that today.

QUESTION: Can you take it as a question?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll see if we can get you something, yes.

QUESTION: I'd like to ask you about some comments made by Ariel Sharon in the press yesterday that you might have seen, where he says that the plan is to get the maximum amount of casualties on the Palestinian side; only until the Palestinians are battered will we be able to have talks. Have you seen these comments?

And when Secretary Powell spoke to Ariel Sharon, did he say that perhaps the indiscriminate retaliatory attacks that are hurting civilians are only escalating the cycle of violence?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to be in a position to go through particular comments or discussions that the Secretary has with the parties. As you know, he is in very frequent touch with them. We have tried to avoid doing a he-said/he-said sort of readout of all these conversations because they need to be able to talk to each other. And that's what they did today.

With respect to the comments, again, we have tried not to react to every single statement that both parties have made. Our view is quite clear: both parties have an obligation to consider the consequences of their actions; both parties have an obligation to take steps that can get us away from escalation, that can stop the violence, that can help avoid harm to civilians. And that's what we make clear to the parties.

QUESTION: If I could follow up, without speaking then directly to the comments made, do you think that appropriate bargaining, that appropriate political tactic in order to get the talks back on track is to try and maximize the amount of casualties?

MR. BOUCHER: We think, as I have said to you already today, that it's imperative that both of the parties look to what they can do to stop the sources of violence; on the Palestinian side to stop the groups that carry out violence; on the Israeli side, to exercise the utmost restraint and discipline.

QUESTION: Prime Minister Sharon also said that he thinks that Crown Prince Abdullah should come to Jerusalem or should maybe potentially go to Cairo to meet with him face to face to talk about the Saudi proposal. Does the State Department have a position on that?

MR. BOUCHER: Not that I've heard, no. Not that we've taken. It would be up to them to decide whether or not to meet.

QUESTION: If we could follow up on the targeted killings, I mean, I know that you've said in the past that the United States is against targeted killings, but as Israel has announced its intention to continue these targeted killings, and given the amount of civilian casualties in result of that, I mean, how hard is the administration pressing the Israelis to stop the practice?

MR. BOUCHER: We have been quite clear about our view on targeted killings. We have been very deeply concerned about them. We have made clear that we strongly oppose the Israeli policy of targeted killings. The events on Monday that left six civilians dead I think demonstrate quite clearly why it's important to oppose this practice and the potential effects that we deeply regret. We strongly deplore the killing of civilians by both sides. That has been a longstanding view, and we have made that view clear.

QUESTION: Within hours, there has also been more suicide attacks, another so-called night club in the Tel Aviv area. Is there any -- in the talks with Hosni Mubarak, is he trying to ascertain what -- perhaps what trial balloons he may use at the meetings in Beirut at the end of the month? And is there any specific plan to maybe bring them in more forcefully to settle these issues?

MR. BOUCHER: The Egyptians have played a very active role through their contacts with both the parties there. They, like we, have worked with both sides to try to move to an end to violence, a cease-fire, and a return to political negotiations. We have welcomed the Egyptian role and we have worked closely with the Egyptians in that. During the visit of President Mubarak to Washington yesterday, the Secretary had discussions with him, as well as with Foreign Minister Maher, about how to keep moving in that direction. You've heard a little bit from the Secretary. And then President Mubarak will be at the White House today discussing that further.

So, yes, we are talking to the Egyptians about how to achieve those goals. We are, in that context, looking at the upcoming Arab League summit. But clearly the imperative right now is to do what we can with the parties to get the violence to stop. This has been a terrible few days of violence for both sides, Israelis and Palestinians suffering, dying. They shouldn't have to live this way. We want this situation to improve, not only for the sake of getting the peace talks back on track, but for the sake of the people who have to live under these conditions.

QUESTION: With President Mubarak here in Washington, are there any plans for anyone in the US Government to bring up with his party or him the claims made in the CIA's latest report on ballistic missiles that they're cooperating with a charter member of the axis of evil, North Korea, on their ballistic missiles program?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll see what I can get you on that.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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