Muslim nations still wary of peace `road map': Envoy

Muslim nations still wary of peace `road map': Envoy

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United States ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce said his
country had found it difficult to convince Indonesia and other
Muslim countries that the recently unveiled "road map" for
Palestinian-Israeli peace was a sincere effort by Washington to
settle the crisis in the Middle East.

Boyce said on Wednesday that the strong preconceptions that
Indonesians held, particularly of the U.S. as a staunch supporter
of Israel, had hindered the objectivity of many here in
appraising the peace plan.

"Maybe it's just a perception that the U.S. and Israel are so
close ... I do not think that the perception that we are
indifferent to the Palestinian plight is correct," he said in a
press conference here on Wednesday.

He emphasized that Washington had similar questions regarding
the credibility of Arab countries and other Muslim nations.

"The perception is that we continue to have a double standard
(on the Middle East issue)," Boyce remarked.

Washington unveiled the road map on April 30 just after it
declared victory in Iraq, another issue that had put Muslim
countries and the U.S. at odds.

The peace plan calls for several actions to be taken by both
sides in supporting the proposal of the "quartet" -- U.S.,
Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- for Israel
and Palestine to live side by side in peace by 2005.

The road map calls for Israel to immediately freeze all
settlement growth and for the Palestinians to cease all attacks
and to end all incitements to violence.

Many countries, especially Muslim nations, have received the
road map with pessimism, questioning Washington's seriousness in
applying the road map and pressing Israel to abide by the plan.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has
officially welcomed the plan but tempered its enthusiasm by
saying it would require full compliance and by all parties to
prove that the U.S. was not using double standards.

Muslim communities around the globe have always been irked by
Washington's support of Israel, especially with its unwillingness
to punish or sanction Israel for wrongdoings -- perceived or
real.

Boyce stressed that Washington had never forsaken the
historical relations between the U.S. and Israel and that certain
communities in the U.S. would always defend Israel
unconditionally.

"Therefore, there are limits to how far we can pressure their
government ... and its policies," Boyce remarked.

He went on to add that as two democratic countries it would be
inappropriate for Washington to impinge upon Israel's
sovereignty.

"This (the road map) is a very sincere U.S. vision of the two
states living side by side in peace ... with the process that
officially will end in 2005," the ambassador said.