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Sharon Agrees Timetable for Implementing Mitchell Report
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced here Thursday night that he has partially agreed to the timetable for implementing the Mitchell report on ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Addressing a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell after their meeting, Sharon said that from now on, there should be a seven-day "completely quiet period" before implementing the next phases of starting the six-week "cooling-off" period as stipulated by the Mitchell report.
During this seven-day period, there should be no violence, no incitement, no shooting from the Palestinian side and then the six- week "cooling-off" period could be started, Sharon said.
He raised this "quiet period" issue with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on Tuesday, insisting that there must be a 10-day "completely quiet period" before the six-week "cooling-off" period begins.
Powell, who arrived here Wednesday evening after a visit to Egypt, said that the timetable for the stages of confidence- building and resumption of peace talks has not been decided yet.
Anyway, Sharon has pledged Israel's commitment to implementing the Mitchell report and promised to do everything possible to end the conflict, he said.
On the issue of international observations of the ceasefire and implementation of the Mitchell report, Sharon said that the Israeli government strongly opposes this idea.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day in the West Bank city of Ramallah after talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Powell said that some kind of international observations are necessary if both sides agree.
He said that this issue has to be decided by both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Powell condemned the shooting incident Wednesday afternoon near the West Bank city of Jenin, in which an Israeli woman was killed, saying that the incident showed that there is an urgent need to end the violence and proper implementation of the Mitchell report.
Powell began his diplomatic mission here on Thursday with holding talks with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, saying that his current mission is to explore the possibility of moving from the stage of implementation of the ceasefire plan into the implementation of the Mitchell report.
The ceasefire plan, brokered by U.S. Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet, took effect on June 13.
The Mitchell report was released by the International Inquiry Committee on ending the Israeli-Palestinian violence, headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell. It laid down the road map for ending violence, resuming peace talks after a "cooling-off" period and building mutual confidence.
Powell is scheduled to visit Jordan on Friday, the last leg of his current trip.
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