Powell ends mission amid Palestinian anger<\/p>\n
Reuters, Ramallah, West Bank<\/p>\n
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said on Wednesday Israeli troop
\npullbacks were a sham and one of his aides accused Israel's Ariel
\nSharon of torpedoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's peace
\nmission.<\/p>\n
Avi Pazner, an aide to the Israeli prime minister, accused
\nArafat of refusing to sign a ceasefire agreement.<\/p>\n
Arafat, speaking after a final round of talks with Powell,
\nraged at Israel for confining him to his Ramallah headquarters.<\/p>\n
"I have to ask the whole international world, I have to ask
\nPresident Bush, I have to ask the United Nations, is this
\nacceptable that I can't go outside from this door?"<\/p>\n
Arafat has been stuck in his compound in Ramallah surrounded
\nby tanks since Israel launched a sweeping offensive on March 29
\nafter a wave of suicide bombings that killed scores of Israelis.<\/p>\n
He told reporters Israel had announced troop withdrawals from
\ntwo West Bank cities, only to return, and were also making
\n"shameful attacks" on Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.<\/p>\n
"They have not withdrawn. As you remember, they had mentioned
\nTulkarm and Qalqilya but they returned back," he said.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces left the two cities last Tuesday, but staged an
\nincursion in Tulkarm a week later. Tanks still ring Qalqilya and
\nthrust into two more West Bank villages on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In Bethlehem, troops are locked in a lengthy standoff with
\nPalestinians trapped in the Church of the Nativity. Israel has
\nvowed not to storm it, but says militants inside must surrender.<\/p>\n
Powell said on Wednesday Arafat must work to end "terrorism"
\nand added that Sharon had given him a "timeline" to end a West
\nBank offensive.<\/p>\n
"In my meetings with Chairman Arafat, I made it clear, and the
\nPalestinian Authority can no longer equivocate, they must decide
\nas the rest of the world has decided that terrorism must end,"
\nPowell told a news conference at the end of a peace mission<\/p>\n
"Prime Minister Sharon has stated his intention to complete
\nIsrael's withdrawal from the areas it recently occupied. He has
\nprovided me with a timeline through this weekend, and as you all
\nknow reservists are now returning home," he said, adding that
\nIsrael would withdraw "in the next few days or a week or so".<\/p>\n
Powell also said senior U.S. officials would be in the area to
\ntry to end Israeli-Palestinian violence and that he also planned
\nto return to the region to continue his efforts, but gave no
\ndate.<\/p>\n
The U.S. secretary of state also said Israel's offensive in
\nthe West Bank, which it launched last month after a wave of
\nsuicide bombings, must end before a ceasefire could be put in
\nplace.<\/p>\n
Powell arrived in Jerusalem last Thursday to reinforce U.S.
\nPresident George W. Bush's demands for an immediate Israeli
\npullout from West Bank cities, action by Arafat to halt
\nPalestinian violence and agreement from both sides to revive
\npeace talks.<\/p>\n
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused the Israeli
\nPrime Minister of sabotaging Powell's mission.<\/p>\n
"The situation on the ground is that Secretary Powell leaves
\nthe situation much worse (than when he came)...It is very
\nunfortunate that every effort exerted by the secretary was
\ntorpedoed by Sharon," he told reporters in Ramallah.<\/p>\n
The U.S. administration said on Tuesday it would let the PLO
\nkeep an office in Washington for another six months, but warned
\nthat it could be kicked out and lose access to its funds in the
\nUnited States if Arafat failed to comply with its demands.<\/p>\n
There have been two suicide bombings that killed 14 people
\nduring Powell's week-long visit to the region, along with
\nextensive Israeli military operations in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Sharon, who has been touting the idea of a Middle East peace
\nconference with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, said on
\ntelevision he hoped the meeting would take place in June.<\/p>\n
At least 1,276 Palestinians and 452 Israelis have been killed
\nsince a Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.<\/p>",
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