Tuesday, Jul 16, 2002
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By Atul Aneja
The quartet, which is expected to act as intermediaries between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the coming days, is set to debate three sets of proposals on Mr. Arafat's political future. The Israelis are insistent that Mr. Arafat should be unseated right away. Israel accuses Mr. Arafat of supporting terror attacks on its citizens, a charge that the Palestinians hotly deny. The Bush administration has till now appeared to be agreeing with the Israeli view. But under increasing pressure from the Europeans and its key Arab friends, the U.S. may rethink its attitude towards the Palestinian leader. The second proposal that the quartet is expected to debate emerges from Europe. The German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, has proposed that the Palestine Authority could appoint a Prime Minister with real powers to push reforms till elections are held in January. In other words, the Europeans, to minimise the humiliation for him, want Mr. Arafat to emerge as a figurehead leader. The U.S. is considering this proposal seriously, as was evident in remarks by the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in a recent television interview. Incidentally, Mr. Powell will head Tuesday's talks that are being held at the Foreign Ministerial level. The Arabs, especially the Egyptians, have mooted a third plan. The Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, believes that Mr. Arafat is still relevant and that he is the only Palestinian leader of stature who can push through a peace deal with the Israelis that may involve major compromises. In other words, dumping Mr. Arafat right now may not be smartest of moves. Egypt has demanded that Israel should withdraw quickly from the Palestinian occupied territories. The Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Jordan have been invited for tomorrow's talks. The setting of a timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state after a new set of Palestinian leaders has emerged is likely to be a topic of discussion at the New York meeting. The meeting may also discuss the possibility of creating a provisional Palestinian state by the end of next year. Two years after that a full-fledged Palestinian state with fixed borders could be formalised. Tuesday's meeting has been preceded by hectic behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity. Mr. Arafat has written to Mr. Powell setting out his views on Palestinian reforms. In fact, the Palestinians have already appointed new Interior and Finance Ministers and changed their security chief as well. Mr. Arafat has appointed a new National Security Adviser, who is acceptable both to the Americans and the Israelis. Israel, on its part, is engaging Egypt, who has considerable influence on the Palestinians, to press for the immediate removal of Mr. Arafat. The Israeli Defence Minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who belongs to the centre-left Labour party, is in Alexandria today for talks with Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Powell is expected to discuss the fallout of the quartet meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers, led by Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal, in Washington next Wednesday.
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