Israel: Militants Aren't Being Disarmed
AP
Date: 03-30-05
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz complained to the Bush administration on Wednesday that Palestinian officials were defaulting on pledges to disarm militants in two West Bank towns.
As a result, Mofaz said, Israel will slow down its schedule for turning over other towns to Palestinian security as part of a truce agreement, according to an Israeli diplomat.
On another front, Mofaz told reporters after a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that diplomacy was "the right channel" to try to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
With the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Israel considers Iran and its potential nuclear arsenal the gravest threat to its security.
Mofaz's statement that Israel considers diplomacy the best strategy could lessen tensions in the region. But even with recent support from the Bush administration, European allies have not been able to persuade Iran to stop its uranium enrichment programs.
On Mideast peace prospects, Mofaz said Israel remained committed to President Bush's goal of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.
And he said Israel's immediate aim was to withdraw all 8,000 Jewish settlers as well as all Israeli soldiers from Gaza over four weeks' time beginning in July. The original intent was to take 12 weeks to clear out the settlers and troops.
The defense minister was meeting also with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and national security adviser Stephen Hadley. The visit precedes Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's scheduled April 11 meeting with Bush at his Texas ranch.
Privately, Mofaz complained to U.S. officials that the Palestinians had not disarmed and placed under supervision 17 militants in Jericho and 35 in Tulkarem after security in the two West Bank towns was transferred to the Palestinian Authority as part of an agreement reached in February.
As a result, Israel was postponing transfer of a third town, Qalqiliya, said an Israeli diplomat on condition of anonymity.
In Gaza, while some settlers have pledged to resist surrendering the territory to the Palestinians, Mofaz said Israeli security forces assigned to implement the withdrawal would not be armed in an effort to minimize tensions.
The defense minister also told the senior U.S. officials he did not know how many would leave voluntarily and how many would have to be pressured to abandon Gaza.
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On the Net:
State Department: http://www.state.gov
State's Mideast peace site: http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rt/c2829.htm
Source
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