Sharon and Abbas receive peace plan
A convoy of diplomatic vehicles arrived at Mr Sharon’s house in Jerusalem yesterday afternoon.
Terje Larsen, the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, said in the West Bank town of Ramallah that the so-called roadmap was presented to Abbas about 90 minutes later. The delivery to Mr Sharon came hours after Mr Abbas was sworn in as Palestinian prime minister, and a suicide attacker killed three others at a Tel Aviv bar.
However, the plan was almost immediately rejected by Palestinina militant group Hamas. Its leader, Ismail Haniyeh said his radical Islamic group rejected the international peace “roadmap”, which it said risked replacing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with inter-Palestinian strife.
The peace plan was drafted by the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators: the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia. It calls for an immediate cease-fire, a crackdown on Palestinian militias, Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian towns and dismantling of Jewish settlements erected since 2001.
US President George W Bush was expected to make at least a written statement on the blueprint, aides said. His Secretary of State, Colin Powell, telephoned Mr Sharon and Mr Abbas, about an hour apart yesterday, according to a US official.
Mr Bush had delayed releasing the blueprint, agreeing to Mr Sharon’s request to hold off until after Israeli elections, then tying its delivery to the confirmation of a Palestinian prime minister.
US officials say that Mr Bush, who has refused to do business with Arafat because of ties to anti-Israeli violence, wanted to be sure that the Palestinian leader handed over the reins on key issues, including security.
Yesterday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer reiterated the president's willingness to welcome Mr Abbas to the White House -- but without Yasser Arafat, who has not been welcome at the presidential mansion since Bush took office.
“The president has said he will” invite Mr Abbas, Mr Fleischer told reporters. “No date is set, but the president has indicated a strong openness to doing that, without Yasser Arafat.”
Mr Fleischer also shrugged off the rejection by the extremist Palestinian group Hamas of Mr Abbas’s call for an end to violence, saying it should not affect the Palestinians’ broader commitment to peace.
“Hamas is a terrorist organisation, of course. And this is an important moment for the Palestinian Authority to step forward and confront terrorism so that peace can be achieved,” Mr Fleischer said.
A Palestinian state with provisional borders could be established by year’s end, with full statehood possibly achieved within three years.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
