Powell faces Herculean peacemaking task

US Secretary of State Colin Powell faces a Herculean task next week in the Middle East as the Bush administration tries to pry Israeli forces off the West Bank and get Yasser Arafat to control terrorists.

Yielding to an explosive situation and worldwide pressure that the US intervene against Israel’s military offensive, President George W Bush announced yesterday that he was sending Mr Powell on a hastily arranged trip to the region.

Mr Powell is due to see Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdallah II of Jordan on his travels. Where they would meet was a mystery.

And it was not completely certain that Mr Powell would be able to see Mr Arafat at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah. But Israel eased its confinement of the Palestinian leader for a meeting with US mediator Anthony Zinni today, so prospects for a meeting with Mr Powell were good.

His immediate task is to try to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr Zinni seemed to be close last week, but a series of terror attacks on Israel timed to the Passover holiday spoiled the progress the retired Marine general had made.

Mr Bush accused Mr Arafat of not consistently opposing or confronting terrorists. ‘‘The situation in which he finds himself today is largely of his own making,’’ the president said. ‘‘He’s missed his opportunities and thereby betrayed the hopes of the people he’s supposed to lead.’’

The president was tough on Israel, as well. ‘‘To lay the foundations of future peace, I ask Israel to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas and begin the withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied,’’ he said.

Also, Mr Bush called for an end of construction of homes for Israeli Jews on the West Bank, withdrawal from territories captured from the Arabs in the 1967 Middle East war, and for Israel to ‘‘show a respect for and concern about the dignity of the Palestinian people who are and will be their neighbours’’.

‘‘It is crucial to distinguish between the terrorists and ordinary Palestinians,’’ Mr Bush said, renewing his call for creation of a Palestinian state on land Israel would have to give up.

After the president spoke, Israeli tanks tightened their chokehold on Nablus, the biggest city on the West Bank, and battles raged at nearby Palestinian refugee camps.

Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield last Friday to crush Palestinian terrorists who have killed more than 40 Israelis and wounded hundreds of others in a week’s time.

The Middle East crisis was sure to dominate Mr Bush’s weekend meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair at the president’s ranch near Crawford, Texas.