Mideast Peace Plan May Miss Target Date

30/11/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTSUprising Comes Under Increasing Criticism by Palestinian Officials & Citizens|| Ahmed Qureia Calls for a 'Popular-unarmed Intifadha Instead|| Two Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Resistance Men Have Been Killed During an Attack on an Internationally Illegal Settlement in the Gaza Strip|| Occupation Troops Arrest Majid Masri of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the Rafidia Neighborhood of the West Bank Town of Nablus|| Two Hamas Resistance Men Escape from an Israeli Prison in Ashkelon|| Occupation Troops Blow up Homes of Relatives of the Two Resistance Men Who Attacked a Likud Polling Station Thursday|| STORYA U.S.-backed plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict won't be ready by its Dec. 20 target date and may be delayed until after the Israeli elections a month later, a Palestinian official said Friday. Separately, another influential Palestinian joined Friday in criticizing the Palestinian uprising that has left 1,954 Palestinians and 683 Israelis dead in 26 months of fighting.

The delayed release of the so-called "road map" to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most likely until after the Jan. 28 elections, would mean a further delay in reaching a truce in the uprising, which has come under increasing criticism by Palestinian officials and citizens.

The United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations have jointly been trying to finalize a plan for a negotiated settlement.

The plan, which was to be presented on Dec. 20, calls for a three-phase, three-year program that would result in a Palestinian state living in peace beside Israel.

But Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath, after a meeting with U.S. officials in Washington, said the Americans told him release of the plan would likely be delayed.

"They prefer to wait until after the Israeli elections, where there'll be an Israeli government ready to work with this plan," Shaath told The Associated Press.

The Palestinians have been pressing to have the plan presented on time, but Israeli officials have said talks should be put on hold until after the vote, which polls show is likely to result in a victory by the right-of-center Likud Party led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Calls placed to U.S. and Israeli officials seeking comment were not returned Friday, but Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that a delay was likely.

INTIFADHA CRITICIZED

The delayed release of the plan comes amid signs that many Palestinians are growing increasingly weary of the uprising, or intefadeh.

"The intefadeh sent a very important message to all the world that there is occupation on the ground," Palestinian Parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia told Associated Press Television News. "Now we have to evaluate the situation. ... Why the intefadeh has been transformed into a military act - is it useful or not?"

He said negotiations were a peaceful way of achieving what Palestinians wanted.

"Intefadeh - popular (unarmed) intefadeh - is another way, not military," he said.

A poll published Thursday found that a majority of Palestinians want their security forces to crack down on armed resistance activists attacking Israel - a shift that indicates Palestinians are souring on the uprising.

ARMED INTIFADHA CONFRONTATIONS RAGE ON

In Intifadha confrontations Friday, two resistance men belonging to the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, fired on the Jewish settlement of Dolah in the Gaza Strip, wounding two Thai workers and an Israeli. The gunmen were killed during the attack.

Later, Israeli occupation soldiers arrested Majid Masri, 28, the Al Aqsa leader in the Rafidia neighborhood of the West Bank town of Nablus, Al Aqsa activists said. Masri, who also used the name Abu Mojahed, was also a spokesman for the group in the West Bank.

HAMAS RESISTANCE MEN ESCAPE FROM PRISON

Israeli police, meanwhile, mounted a manhunt in southern Israel after two members of the resistance group Hamas, both serving life terms, escaped from a prison in Ashkelon, Israel's prison services said.

Mohammed Haj Salah was convicted of placing a car bomb next to an Israeli bus in 1994, and Nasser Ramadan was convicted of killing two guards at a West Bank Jewish settlement in 1998, a prison spokeswoman said.

Israeli occupation troops blew up the West Bank homes of two resistance men who sprayed a Likud Party polling station with gunfire Thursday. The attackers killed six people and wounded more than 20 in the election-day attack. The attackers, cousins from the village of Jalaboun, were Al Aqsa members.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli soldiers search Palestinians and check their identities in the Palestinian sector of the West Bank town of Hebron Friday Nov. 29, 2002. (AP Photo/Nasse