Israel to Powell - Don't Go - VOA

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Israel Asks Powell Not to Meet Geneva Pact Authors
VOA News
02 Dec 2003, 14:57 UTC

Israel has asked U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
not to meet the architects of an unofficial Middle East
peace plan.

Vice Premier Ehud Olmert tells Israel
Radio such a meeting would be a mistake,
and would not help the peace process.

U.S. officials say Mr. Powell is willing to meet
later this week in Washington with the plan's
co-authors, former Israeli minister Yossi Beilin
and former Palestinian minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The State Department has called the initiative,
known as the Geneva Accord, a "worthwhile" step.

But it stopped short of endorsing the plan,
saying the peace process can only advance
in direct talks involving the Israeli government
and the Palestinian leadership,

as called for by the U.S.-backed road map peace plan.

Israel's government has denounced the unofficial accord,
which was presented Monday in Geneva.

The pact calls, among other things,
for the creation of a Palestinian state
in most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
and shared control of Jerusalem.

Violence continued in the occupied territories,
where a Palestinian militant was killed Tuesday in
clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank town
of Jenin.

Palestinian witnesses say the man was a member
of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed
offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's
Fatah movement.

Later, in a village close to Jenin,
Israeli troops destroyed the homes of
two members of the militant group Islamic Jihad.

The raids come as Palestinian militant groups
meet for informal talks Tuesday in Cairo,
Egypt to consider a possible suspension of
attacks against Israel.

The official opening of the talks is set for Thursday.