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Colin Powell on an Exploratory Tour of the Middle East
The Middle-East tour made by Colin Powell, secretary of state of the United States, is a visit paid by the first high-ranking US official to the Middle East region after George W. Bush assumed office. Because of US special interest in the Middle East region, the US government's considerable influence on Israel, plus the international community's general view that the new Bush administration would not be so deeply involved in the Middle East peace talks as was done by the Clinton administration, Powell's trip has therefore received universal attention from the international community.
It is reported that President Hosni Mubarak and Secretary of State Powell had an exchange of views on bilateral relations of Egypt and the United States, and on other important international issues, particularly the situation in the Middle-East region and the Mid-east peace process. Egypt explicitly expressed its dissatisfaction with the repeated US and British bombings of Iraq, and hoped that the United States would play its special role to bring about a quickest possible resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
Powell admitted in Cairo that Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli peace talks are one of the important contents of his present trip. Prior to this, Powell stated in Washington that the basic American stand remained unchanged in handling the Middle East problem, i.e., still sticking to the "land for peace" principle and the Security Council 242 and 338 resolutions, as well as the spirit of the Madrid Mid-east peace conference. He said that the new Bush administration currently has not as yet determined its tactics on the Mid-east question as well as the Mid-east peace process. The aim of his current tour is to listen to the opinions and ideas of various relevant parties in this region, thereby deciding on the US government's future tactics and concrete methods concerning the Middle East. Through the joint press conference held in Cairo, people can feel that Powell's trip obviously has the "exploratory" and "scouting" aim. He reiterated in Cairo that he did not come to order people about, but instead to listen to the opinions of various friends in the Middle East region.
Although he indicated that he would continue to push forward the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, he did not make it clear whether the peace talks would resume from where it was broken off, nor did he set the specific date for the peace talks.
Owing to the fact that the US government has changed and the Israeli government is undergoing a reshuffle, so how will the new Bush administration handle its strategic partnership with the Israeli government under Ariel Sharon is the second conspicuous content of Powell's present trip. After the tough Prime Minister Sharon's assumption of office, any improper move taken by the new Israeli government on the regional issue not only will cause instability in the Mid-east situation, but also will possibly spark trouble in a wider scope, and will, of course, affect US interest in this region. Therefore, how will Powell balance the interest between Palestine and Israel and handle the Palestinian-Israeli issue has attracted people's attention. At the press conference held after his talks with Sharon, Powell expressed the hope that Palestine and Israel should put an immediate end to conflicts and push forward negotiations on deciding the final status through their actual deeds. He indicated that the United States would continue to boost the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, but at the same time he stressed that the United States would not sit idly by and do nothing about Israel's security.
When explaining why the United States and Britain bombed Iraq, Powell pleaded for the two countries. Giving an explanation on Washington's policies toward Iraq and Iran is another important content of Powell's trip. Bush administration's repeated military actions against Iraq has been universally opposed by the international community, Washington has received the information issued by quite a number of countries, expressing their grieves, anxieties, regrets and even condemnations. For this, it is imaginable why the United States shifts all responsibilities on to Iraq.
However, at the moment it is still hard to tell how many achievements Mr. Powell's trip could gain, because the present situation seems to be unfavorable to him. A personage with the US State Department who does not want to be identified admitted that the first visit paid by the Secretary of State to the Middle East would meet with great obstacles and difficulties, because the coalition government formed by Sharon and the Labor Party has encountered these troubles: Israel's military suppressions of the Arabs have aggravated the emotional antagonism of both sides, the Arabs pin no hope on the new Sharon government; US and British bombings of Baghdad, in particular, have exacerbated the Arab's resentment.
This news analysis is written by Xu Ping, People's Daily staff reporter stationed in Egypt, and is published on page 3 of the said paper, February 26
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