JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 -- In a drive to jump-start the moribund peace process, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell arrived here Sunday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders about steps to facilitate the Palestinian political transition after the death of Yasser Arafat.
Creating the right conditions for Jan. 9 presidential elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will involve dealing with some of the most contentious issues that have also blocked movement on the U.S.-orchestrated "road map" for Israeli-Palestinian peace. These include a Palestinian crackdown on violence and Israel's release of tax revenue so the Palestinian Authority can meet its payroll.
"I'm encouraging both sides to do everything they can to make sure this election comes off and that the maximum number of Palestinians have the opportunity to participate in the elections," Powell told reporters accompanying him from an economic summit in Chile to the Middle East. "Perhaps the things that we do, or that they do, will encourage a degree of cooperation to spread into other areas."
A senior Israeli official familiar with the negotiations said Israel is prepared to be open about redeployment of its security forces to allow elections, possibly including withdrawal from Palestinian cities, limiting military activities and removing roadblocks, as well as lifting travel restrictions.
"It's not a matter of pressure on Israel," a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said in an interview. "It's in our national interest that the election succeeds. We're going to be more forthcoming than many people would expect."
The United States wants to provide $20 million in new aid, which Powell had hoped to announce on this trip, directly to the Palestinian Authority to help pay for elections. But because of congressional intervention, Powell must first press for more guarantees of accountability and oversight to ensure that the funds are not siphoned off by corrupt officials or end up in the hands of extremist groups, U.S. officials said.
"We have some ideas and we are examining what resources might be available," Powell said. The Bush administration now hopes to be able to announce a new aid commitment at an international donors conference next month in Norway, U.S. officials said.
Despite his plans to press Israel and the Palestinians to resume work on the road map for peace, Powell will not be able to assure the Palestinians that the deadline for a Palestinian state by the end of next year can be met.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said last week that the Palestinians want assurances that if they take the required steps, they will have a state within 13 months. "We'll tell him that the four years' time that was mentioned by President Bush to establish a Palestinian state will encourage the Israeli government to continue stealing our lands to build settlements and the wall," he told a Palestinian journalist, referring to the barrier Israel is building around and through the West Bank. "It is very dangerous."
But Powell told reporters en route to Jerusalem that the date for an independent state would depend on "progress and events," not the road map deadline.
"We'd all like to see a Palestinian state come into being as quickly as possible. But it is difficult to put any date on it. The end of 2005 was the date we had hoped for in 2002," Powell said.
In talks Monday in the West Bank city of Jericho, the Palestinians will also press Powell to help win the release of Marwan Barghouti, a charismatic Palestinian leader serving a life sentence after being convicted in connection with the deaths of several Israelis since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000. He has considered running for the Palestinian Authority presidency since Arafat's death, according to associates.
Powell told reporters he would "hear what others have to say" about Barghouti.
Israel has shown some flexibility on resuming talks, indicating that discussion of the road map could resume even if the Palestinians cannot rein in all extremists, as long as they show goodwill.
"Israel is ready to move forward," Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told the Associated Press.
