INDYK: PRESIDENT "INTENSIVELY ENGAGED" IN PEACE PROCESS
USIA
USIS Washington File
23 January 1998
INDYK: PRESIDENT "INTENSIVELY ENGAGED" IN PEACE PROCESS
(U.S. is trying to build trust between Israel, Palestinians) (690)
By Emile S. Siman
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- President Clinton "has been directly and intensively
engaged" in efforts aimed at putting the stalled peace process back on
track, and he is "determined" to see the United States "play a leading
role," according to Martin Indyk, Assistant Secretary of State for
Middle East and North African Affairs.
The President "spent an extraordinary" amount of time on the Mideast
peace process this week, meeting back-to-back separately with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat, "not to mention time spent for preparations" for those
meetings, Indyk said.
In a briefing January 23 at USIA's Foreign Press Center, the Assistant
Secretary declared that "we will do what we can to facilitate this
[peace] process, bridge gaps and offer ideas. ... There will be no
lack of [U.S.] leadership."
Regarding the U.S. approach to breaking the current Mideast logjam,
Indyk, who is a former ambassador to Israel, maintained that both
President Clinton and Secretary of State Albright are trying to build
"trust" and are seeking ways to "institute a process of parallel steps
... that can engender greater confidence" between Israel and the
Palestinians.
Underscoring the personal role that President Clinton is playing,
Indyk said the involvement of the president, whom he dubbed "the
custodian" of the peace process, "marks a new stage." Both Netanyahu
and Arafat "are conscious of the [president's] intensive involvement,"
he added.
Indyk said "we have made some headway" in this week's discussions, but
now "both leaders have to think about the ideas we put forth on the
table," and Secretary of State Albright will try to follow through to
seek "to bring this process to closure."
Detailing some of the topics focused on during the talks with the
leaders, Indyk disclosed that the U.S. has prodded both sides to work
on an accelerated timetable involving parallel steps, whereby the
Israelis would implement their commitment of further redeployment,
while the Palestinians would "fulfill their obligations and place
emphasis on fighting terror through security cooperation with Israel."
The Palestinians would also "root out unilaterally" what he described,
without elaborating, as "the terrorist structure."
Indyk termed as "significant" Arafat's letter to President Clinton
stipulating which clauses of the Palestinian National Covenant have
been annulled, particularly those calling for Israel's destruction.
He defined "time out," a term Secretary of State Albright coined this
summer following increasing construction in West Bank Jewish
settlements, as "avoidance of provocative actions on both sides --
settlement activity and actions by the Palestinian Authority to
unilaterally preempt negotiations."
In response to a question, Indyk held that the Palestinians' request
to obtain full membership at the United Nations, minus the right to
vote, last year was a provocative action which Israel has protested.
The United States, he noted, has "never felt that the United Nations
is a venue for negotiating [Arab-Israeli] issues"; instead, it
believes in direct negotiations which "we are ready to facilitate." He
added: "It is an illusion to reach agreements in international forums
... it won't work with solving the Arab-Israeli conflict."
He went on to underscore the role of other countries in the peace
process, such as Egypt and Jordan, which have signed peace treaties
with Israel, as well as Arab states like Morocco and Saudi Arabia, and
the European Union.
Regarding Iraq, Indyk referred to UNSCOM Chairman Butler's statements
that Iraq is "out of compliance with Security Council resolutions,"
and maintained that this situation was unacceptable to both the United
States and the international community. "We are determined to see that
Saddam Hussein will comply with the will of the Security Council," he
said.
On Iran, Indyk declared that the United States is "not seeking to
overthrow the Islamic Republic" and "we are willing to engage in
official" and "government-to-government dialogue." Praising recent
statements by Iranian President Khatami, in which he denounced
terrorism, Indyk said, "when we see change" in Iran's attitudes "we
will respond accordingly."