21 - 27 February 2002
Issue No.574
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 February 2002 Issue No.574 |
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Situation undetermined
Richard Haass, director of policy planning for the US Department of State, said after talks with top officials on Monday that "no decisions have been made" on how to deal with Iraq, Soha Abdelaty reports.
Maher and Haass during talks on Monday
He also urged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to reconsider the strategy he has been following since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, saying that "violence and armed confrontation will not help in achieving any Palestinian goals."
Haass met with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Osama El-Baz, President Hosni Mubarak's top political adviser, on Monday. When asked directly whether Washington was planning an attack against Iraq soon, Haass told reporters that "There are no decisions made, there is no timetable." He added: "This is an area of considerable concern for us, and we are still refining our options and consulting with other governments."
Haass said that US President George W Bush will hold further talks on Iraq when he meets Mubarak in Washington in early March. US Vice-President Dick Cheney will also discuss the issue in his 11-nation Middle East tour later in March.
"We are particularly concerned because there has been a three-year gap since any weapons [inspectors] have been in Iraq," Haass said after meeting Maher. "Plus, 11 September changed the way the United States views the world," he added. "What we see now is just what terrorism can do. This is no longer an abstract or hypothetical concern. This is very real, and Americans do not want to wake up one day when we have a new version of 11 September in one way or another perpetuated by Iraq."
Haass also stood fast by the Bush administration's tough line on Arafat, holding Palestinians mainly responsible for the current deterioration in the situation. "This latest Intifada has brought Palestinians nothing but misery," Haass said, adding that Palestinians were paying a "an enormous price" for insisting on maintaining the Intifada.
"I don't understand Palestinian policy. I don't understand why people would continue a strategy that is so obviously counterproductive. There is not a military answer for the Palestinian predicament. The only answer for the Palestinian predicament and their desire to get an independent, viable state is through negotiations," Haass said.
The US State Department official, however, denied that the US approved all policies followed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to suppress the Intifada, such as assassinating Palestinian activists. He said that Washington has expressed its disagreement with such policy, "both publicly and privately."
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