Powell Comes Up Short

Secretary of State Colin Powell did not get the cease-fire he sought on his 10-day Mideast mission, but he pointed Wednesday to an Israeli promise to accelerate a West Bank pullout as a sign of progress.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave assurances of "real results in the next few days," Powell said. "Only with the end of the incursion and with the engagement in security talks can a cease-fire be achieved."

He admonished Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat anew to "decide as the rest of the world has decided, that terrorism must end." But U.S. suggestions before Powell's trip that the peace mission would be Arafat's last chance had vanished at trip's end.

"He holds the office of the presidency of the Palestinian Authority," Powell said at a news conference after his meeting with Arafat Wednesday. "So whether one approves of that or disapproves it, or likes it or doesn't like it, it's a reality."

President Bush, in a speech as Powell returned, said the secretary of state had made progress. He, too, urged Arafat to do more to stop violence and admonished neighboring Arab states to change their ways.

"All parties have a responsibility to stop funding or inciting terror," Mr. Bush said. "And all parties must say clearly that a murderer is not a martyr; he or she is just a murderer."

Taking the Palestinians and Arab states to task, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts, reinforced a growing belief in Arab countries – and beyond – that the president's Mideast policy is rooted too heavily in domestic support for Israel – and ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people.

For their part, Israel and the Palestinians faulted each other for the trip's limited results.

"Secretary Powell goes away with a tangible Israeli timeline to withdraw its forces from Palestinian cities and bring the current operation to a close," Sharon adviser Dore Gold said. "Unfortunately, Yasser Arafat has not reciprocated, has not offered a meaningful cease-fire."

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat countered that it was the Israelis who were to blame: "All we can say is Sharon did a good job to torpedo the secretary's mission here."

Mr. Bush will assemble his national security team Thursday to hear from Powell and discuss the possibility of a Mideast peace conference. The president wants to be sure the idea makes sense before embracing it, said a senior U.S. official.

CIA Director George J. Tenet is considering going to the region next week, but no decision has been made, the official said.

Powell, who met Arafat in the Ramallah office where he is cooped up by Israeli tanks and troops, said: "He has a powerful voice and can be heard, so he should use his position of leadership and his powerful voice," to end terror.

During their talks, Powell asked Arafat to turn over to Israel wanted Palestinians inside his compound and accept the exile of 200 Palestinian gunmen surrounded by Israeli forces in the Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior Arafat aide.

Abu Rdeneh said Arafat told the Americans that without an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territory, all peace efforts would be wasted.

Mohammed Dahlan, a Palestinian security chief in Gaza, said the meeting with Powell proved fruitless. "It is clear that the Americans have legitimized the aggressive style of the Israeli government," he said. The Americans "could not even force Israel to move their tanks from in front of Arafat's office."

As a result, CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports, the Palestinians are angrier than ever. They had counted on Powell bringing a withdrawal. After the meeting, Arafat praised Powell personally, but railed against what he's called Israel's reoccupation.

His usual stubble now turning into a white beard, Arafat shook with anger, complaining that Israel was also taking new areas rather than withdrawing.

"Who can accept this?" Arafat asked rhetorically. "This means they (Israel) are continuing their aggression against the Palestinian people. Aginst what has been declared by President Bush.

The Palestinian leader spoke from a darkened hallway in his offices, surrounded by Israeli troops who watched him through the windows of nearby buildings. He said he couldn't step outside even to escort Powell to his car.

"I have to ask the Bush administration, the international community, is this acceptable that I cannot go out the door?" Arafat said.

Arafat has been confined to Ramallah since December — and to a few rooms of his shell-shattered headquarters since Israel began its West Bank offensive.

The secretary of state, after meeting with Arafat, met in Cairo with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher of Egypt before heading home on Wednesday. Powell was supposed to see President Hosni Mubarak, but was told Mubarak was "indisposed," Powell said.

That rebuff from Egypt came as some in the Arab world complained that Powell had not brought adequate pressure on Israel to end its offensive, designed to stop Palestinian militants from launching more suicide attacks.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks rolled into a Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem and other towns. Some Israeli forces pulled out of Jenin, scene of the worst fighting of the West Bank offensive.

In Bethlehem, where a 16-day-old standoff at the Church of the Nativity appears far from resolution, Mayor Hana Nasser said he would ask Pope John Paul II to come and try to resolve the crisis. There was no immediate Vatican comment.

Jenin remained under military curfew, but a dozen Israeli armored personnel carriers left from in front of the Jenin hospital and the overwhelming army presence in the Jenin refugee camp diminished.

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen battled for days in the Jenin refugee camp, which is adjacent to the city of the same name. Palestinians pulled out more bodies Wednesday from the rubble in the camp, where the death toll remains unknown.

Jenin Mayor Walid Abu Mowais said tanks had pulled back from the center of Jenin city, and Israel Radio reported about 30 tanks were seen leaving. The army refused to comment.

"Some of them are moving out to military camps north and south of Jenin, but that doesn't mean they have withdrawn permanently from the city," Abu Mowais said.

Overnight, Israeli forces sealed off the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiyah in Jerusalem, removing residents and searching their homes. Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said two men were arrested before the operation ended early Wednesday.

Residents said men were taken to a gas station and women and children to a school. Police imposed a nearly 18-hour curfew — rarely done inside Jerusalem's city limits.

Israeli troops began entering West Bank towns on March 29 in an offensive to crush Palestinian militias after a string of suicide attacks. Israeli forces are currently in at least eight villages, as well as the main towns of Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Nablus.