Once More Into The Mideast Breach
A new U.S. peace mission is getting under way day in the Middle East, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger.
U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni is making a second attempt at an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire. His first mission collapsed last month after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.
In a goodwill gesture ahead of Zinni's arrival, the Israeli army said it withdrew from Palestinian areas in two West Bank towns, Ramallah and Jenin.
Zinni meets Thursday with Israeli officials and with Palestinian officials on Friday.
He will concentrate on trying to persuade Yasser Arafat to dismantle terrorist cells on the West Bank and in Gaza in his new Mideast mission.
"That's the way to promote a continued reduction in the violence," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday in announcing that Zinni's second trip to the area would be a brief one.
Learn more about the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Israeli forces took up positions in and around Palestinian cities and towns late last year after a wave of bloody Palestinian attacks. The pullout announcement followed a stepped-up effort by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to rein in militant groups behind the violence.
The Israeli army said it withdrew its forces from the West Bank cities of Jenin and a neighborhood in Ramallah and would continue to ease restrictions on Palestinian areas.
A Defense Ministry statement said Israeli forces also pulled out of the West Bank city of Nablus. A Palestinian security source denied troops had left.
A Voice of Palestine radio correspondent confirmed troops had left Jenin, but a Palestinian security source said they were still in areas of Ramallah, where Israel has banned Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from leaving.
Witnesses said that even in Palestinian-ruled areas where troops had withdrawn, Israeli forces maintained their blockades.
"The forces will continue the plan of easing restrictions on the Palestinians according to government directives," the army said in a statement.
Witnesses said Israeli tanks were still stationed near Arafat's office.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reaffirmed late on Wednesday that Arafat would not be allowed to leave Ramallah until he arrested the killers of an Israeli cabinet minister.
Palestinian security chief Jibril Rajoub told Voice of Palestine the ban would not "break the will" of Arafat, who effectively has been stranded in Ramallah since early December.
At the State Department, Boucher declined to accept Sharon's demand for seven days of calm as a precondition for a formal truce.
"I ain't been counting days of quiet, if you've noticed," Boucher told a briefing.
"It's not a question of endorsing one or the other side's criteria or ideas," Boucher said. "It's a matter oworking with both sides to get them to take steps that can effectively end the violence."
The Palestinians, who say the Israeli stance means a single gunman could block the peace effort, want immediate implementation of proposals leading to peacemaking.
Zinni aims to rescue Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts weeks after his first visit in November and December coincided with one of the worst bouts of bloodshed in the 15-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said Zinni aimed to bring about a truce, encourage a Palestinian crackdown on militants and discuss with Israel steps to ease life for Palestinians.
Israel sent troops into Palestinian-ruled areas in Jenin, Ramallah and other West Bank cities in what it called security measures following a spate of suicide attacks in December.
Palestinian officials said the measures amounted to collective punishment and were aimed at toppling Arafat and his Palestinian Authority, accusations which Israel denied.
The region has been relatively calm for two weeks, but Sharon has insisted on seven days of complete quiet before moving to a U.S.-led truce-to-talks plan.
Zinni's trip was to last until early next week after which he will return to Washington to report to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Boucher said.
Washington wants the violence to end to maintain support in the Middle East for its pursuit of Osama bin Laden, who it says masterminded the September 11 attacks in the United States.
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