Mideast Peace Crucial to War on Terrorism: US

15/02/2003| IslamWeb

Ending the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel is "a critical component" to winning the war on terrorism, the White House said in a strategic blueprint for that global campaign."No other issue has so colored the perception of the United States in the Muslim world," according to the 30-page "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism."The document also says the United States will support moderate, modern governments in the Muslim world, and recognizes poverty as one of the underlying conditions that feeds extremism.

And, with a war against Iraq looming, it emphasizes past US military action to aid Muslim populations, such as in Kosovo, Kuwait, or Afghanistan -- where Washington routed the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

"The biggest killer of Muslims in a long time has been Saddam Hussein," according to a senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the strategy on condition of anonymity.

The blueprint fleshes out US President George W. Bush's stark warning that "either you're with us or you're with the terrorists" and paints efforts to fulfill his two-state vision of Middle East peace as a front in the campaign.

"Finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a critical component to winning the war of ideas," it says.

"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is critical because of the toll of human suffering, because of America's close relationship with the state of Israel and key Arab states, and because of that region's importance to other global priorities of the United States," according to the strategy.

Bush has said he wants to see Israelis living in security alongside a Palestinian state, whose creation he has conditioned on an end to anti-Israeli terrorism and sweeping reforms of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

"The United States can play a crucial role but, ultimately, lasting peace can only come when Israelis and Palestinians resolve the issues and end the conflict between them," the document says.

The blueprint restates the Bush administration's longstanding position that poverty, a lack of political rights, and regional disputes do not justify terrorism.

"However, many terrorist organizations that have little in common with the poor and destitute masses exploit these conditions to their advantage," it says.

Norway calls Palestinian donor conference for next week

Norway announced a meeting of donor countries for the Palestinian Authority, warning that the crisis in the Middle East should not be forgotten amid the looming threat of war in Iraq.

"We must not let the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians remain in the shadow of the Iraqi question," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen said in a statement.

Petersen's statement announced a meeting of the Palestinian donors' committee -- which Oslo chairs -- next Tuesday and Wednesday in London.

"The Palestinians' humanitarian situation is very worrying and concerns us all," it said.

Norway, the largest per-capita donor to the Palestinians, has invited the United States, the European Union, Japan, Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia to the meeting, along with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The aim of the meeting is to raise more money, revise funding priorities and establish the most effective way to use existing humanitarian aid, the foreign ministry said.

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Bush has said he wants to see Israelis living in security alongside a Palestinian state, whose creation he has conditioned on an end to anti-Israeli terrorism and sweeping reforms of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Auth