PA gets from U.S. latest draft of Mideast 'road map'
By Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Ha'aretz Service 22 December 2002
[IMRA: Aluf Benn understates the significance of the Saudi initiative as it
refers to the right of return of Palestinian refugees.]

The United States has given to the Palestinian Authority the latest draft of
the Middle East "road map" to achieve peace between Israel and the
Palestinians, Israel Radio reported.

PA Minister Saeb Erekat said that the Palestinians were asked to give their
official response to the plan.

The revised version of the peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians,
presented on Friday to the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the United
Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States - is more
stringent with the Palestinians than the previous versions, and reflects
serious controversy between the U.S. and its partners.

The draft, third in number, made its way to Jerusalem this weekend through
unofficial channels. The U.S. administration would not divulge the document
after the Quartet meeting; the final version of the plan - known as the
"road map" - will only be handed to the parties officially after the
elections in Israel on January 28 and after a new government is formed. This
was yet another bone of contention.

The road map is a detailed plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state
with transitional borders by the end of 2003 and final ones by the end of
2005. Implementation of the various stages of the plan depends on the
parties' performance.

A provision included in the latest draft stipulates that a Palestinian state
can only be established "when the Palestinian people will have a leadership
willing and able to establish practicing democracy based on tolerance and
liberty. With such reformed civil institutions and security structure, the
Palestinian leadership will have the active support of the Quartet and the
broad international community to establish an independent viable state."

The U.S. wanted to add the requirement that Palestinian leadership not be
"compromised by terror," but the other members of the Quartet objected. The
American version refers to the Palestinians in general, while the European
language discusses the Palestinian Authority specifically. This difference
reflects Europe's will to keep Arafat in place while the U.S. calls for his
ouster.

Under the new version, in the transition phase the Palestinian state will
not have full sovereignty but only "certain attributes of sovereignty."

A change to which Israel objects refers to the Saudi peace initiative as
approved by the Arab League, as one of the sources from which the road map
draws its authority, along with the UN Security Council resolutions, the
Madrid Framework, the principle of land for peace and prior agreements
between the parties. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has adamantly opposed this
reference because the Saudi initiative calls for an Israeli withdrawal to
the borders of June 4, 1967. The previous version said only that the parties
should make special consideration of the Saudi initiative.

The new version omits a requirement that Israel should discontinue military
operations in populated areas - a code name for assassinations. This item
raised much controversy between the U.S. and Russia on the one hand and the
Europeans and the UN on the other, since the latter strictly condemn any
killing that is not sanctioned by a court of law.

Also, the Palestinians are called on not only to "dismantle" terrorist
infrastructure but also to "confront" anyone involved in terrorist activity.
The Palestinians are required to collect unauthorized weapons in the very
first stage of implementation of the plan. In the first draft, the
Palestinians were only required to make a statement condemning terrorism and
to reform their security agencies. Under Israeli pressure, the Quartet
agreed to define clearer requirements for the Palestinian side.

The U.S. and the other members are still not agreed about Israeli
settlements in the territories. The U.S. maintains settlement construction
should only be halted once a comprehensive cease-fire is obtained, while the
others demand an immediate and unconditional halt to building. The previous
version required the freeze to start in Jerusalem, while the requirement in
the current version is more vague.

Under the new version, implementation is still subject to the supervision of
the Quartet. The U.S. did not back Israel's reservations about the role that
the Europeans, the Russians and the UN would play.

The new version calls on the Arab countries to terminate any financial
support not only of the terror organizations themselves but also for "all
other forms of support for terrorism," and calls on them fully to normalize
their relations with Israel at the end of the process.