Atlanta, Georgia | Thursday
THE United States vowed to keep working to end Middle East violence, as chaos at an Arab summit and a suicide bombing that killed 20 Israelis cast a cloud over the ailing peace process.
In the wake of the attack, which also injured 73, including 26 in serious condition, US President George Bush on Wednesday demanded that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides ”do everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing.”
”This callous, this cold-blooded killing, it must stop. I condemn it in the most strongest of terms,” said the president, who deplored that ”there are people in the Middle East who would rather kill than have peace.”
Bush’s tone contrasted sharply with earlier remarks in which he declared himself ”optimistic” about special US Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni’s progress towards crafting a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians.
The attack devastated a hotel packed with people celebrating the first night of the Jewish Passover on Wednesday in the northern Israeli city of Netanya. It was the deadliest suicide bombing since June when 21 people were killed outside a Tel Aviv nightclub.
The bombing was claimed by the Islamic radical movement Hamas, whose representative Usama Hamdan told CNN in Beirut that it ”sends a message to all the world that we are trying to fight for our own freedom against a terrorist government in Israel led by (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon.”
Hamdan said the goal of the Palestinians was to ”have their own state,” and warned that ”if the situation continues as is, you will discover that all the Palestinians consider themselves suicide bombers.”
Despite the attack, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Zinni had ”made progress” towards that goal and would remain in the region.
The retired Marine Corps general ”will remain engaged,” he told reporters after meeting with deputy Serbian Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic at the State Department.
”He has made progress in recent days in bringing the two sides closer together towards the start of Tenet plan,” he said, referring to the truce deal proposed by CIA chief George Tenet.
Powell said Zinni would stay in the Middle East until at least the end of the Jewish Passover holiday that began at dusk Wednesday and the Christian celebration of Easter.
Zinni will work ”at whatever pace the two sides are willing to work at,” he said, adding that the envoy had presented a cease-fire proposal aimed at bridging the chasm between Israeli and Palestinian positions.
”That proposal is gaining currency on both sides. We will see what is happening in the days ahead,” said Powell, who downplayed the impact of Arafat’s absence from a much-anticipated Arab League summit in Beirut.
”We would have preferred for him (Arafat) to attend the summit meeting. We thought it would have been a more positive step than not going,” said the secretary of state.
”But that’s behind us now. I’m concentrating my efforts once again on General Zinni’s work and on taking maximum advantage of the positive elements that do come out of the meeting,” he said.
But a senior US official said the absence of Arafat, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II as well as several other Arab leaders had all but dashed US desires for a broad and authoritative resolution in support of a Saudi land-for-peace proposal at the summit.
Only 10 heads of states from the 22-member Arab League turned up for the summit.
Shortly after the attack the Palestinian leadership denounced the bombing and pledged to ”deal severely” with any Palestinian group responsible. – Sapa-AFP