Rice urges Mofaz to release more Palestinian prisoners
JPost staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 18, 2005
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1119061894421&p=1078027574097

["Senior sources in the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday night said it
was unlikely that Rice would press Sharon to make additional gestures to the
Palestinian Authority now, saying she was well aware of his mounting
internal political problems."
Oops.]

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday night called on Israel to
immediately carry out significant steps to further ease daily life
conditions of the Palestinian population.

During a meeting she held with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Rice asked to
release more Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli prisons and to
hand over security control of more West Bank cities to the PA.

Israel released a total of 900 prisoners in two batches - one in February
and the other in June -in accordance with the understandings reached at the
four-way Sharm e-Sheikh summit in February and as good-will gesture to PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Rice will meet on Sunday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Vice Premier
Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
During a joint press conference held earlier in Ramallah after Rice met
Abbas, the secretary of state said that Israel's planned withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip this summer provided both sides with the best chance for
reinvigorating the stalled "road map" peace plan.

"We must all focus on the disengagement as our best chance to re-energize
the road map... Both parties will have to do their parts if this is to be a
peaceful and orderly withdrawal from Gaza," Rice said.

Abbas, who plans to hold a summit with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on
Tuesday, said the Palestinians were committed to ensuring a peaceful pullout
and to "total coordination with the Israeli side."

He also emphasized that the Palestinians were committed to a 4-month-old
truce with Israel, but complained that Israel had repeatedly violated the
agreement.

Rice praised Abbas' efforts to reform the Palestinian Authority, which has
been accused of endemic corruption. But she said the Palestinians needed to
more actively use the security forces to combat the chaos created by armed
gangs in many Palestinian areas and to combat terrorism.

Upon her arrival in Israel, Rice said Israelis and Palestinians must plan
together for the day when Israelis leave their homes in the Gaza Strip.

Rice landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday
morning for a series of meetings with top officials on both sides.

"There needs to be clarity about what to expect," Rice told reporters, en
route to the region.

"That, I think, will lead to less confusion on what is likely to be, under
the best of circumstances, a pretty complicated day."
Rice's trip marks the second time she has held separate meetings with the
two leaders in the region. Sharon and Abbas plan a summit just afterward, on
Tuesday.

Rice expressed sensitivity to the complexity of the evacuation of the
settlements. "What they are doing is moving thousands of people with their
effects, and families, and it's going to be complicated," Rice said. "I know
Israel has done a lot of planning; I know the Palestinians have done a lot
of planning. Our goal is to make sure they are doing their planning
together."

Senior sources in the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday night said it
was unlikely that Rice would press Sharon to make additional gestures to the
Palestinian Authority now, saying she was well aware of his mounting
internal political problems.

Rice's statements to reporters as her plane made a refueling stop in Ireland
appeared to confirm these predictions. Reiterating the US line to refrain
from illegal settlement construction, Rice said, "We don't intend that the
Israelis try to create facts on the ground. They simply cannot engage in
activities that are supposed to prejudge" the final terms of a peace
settlement.

Rice also carried a message for Abbas that he must be tough with the
terrorist group Hamas, she said.

"I'm certainly going to talk with President Abbas about the need ... for the
Palestinians to play a critical role in providing a secure environment in
which the Gaza disengagement can take place," Rice said. "Obviously, that
means that the calm that he has discussed with the various Palestinian
factions is going to have to hold."

A peaceful and successful Israeli withdrawal from Gaza will give both sides
a better footing for substantive peace talks, Rice said.

Rice gave a cautious endorsement of Palestinian progress to organize and
train an effective security force.

"In terms of the Palestinians' apparent determination to streamline their
security forces into a manageable number of forces that can then be trained
and act professionally, I think they are making progress on that," she said.

"In terms of their ability to fight terror and what they do on a day-to-day
basis, frankly I do think more could be done."

The lack of a scheduled joint press conference with Sharon, as is usually
the case when a US secretary of state visits, fueled speculation that Sharon
was hesitant to share the stage with Rice because he wouldn't want to be
pressed to make additional overtures to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Officials in his office denied there was any impending US pressure, saying
that every trip to Israel by a secretary of state, or every trip to the US
by Sharon, was accompanied by reports of imminent pressure.

"The main thing of concern to Rice is to see that the disengagement plan is
implemented fully, on time and in an orderly manner," one official said.
"The US knows of Sharon's domestic problems and is unlikely to compound them
with pressure. They want to move forward with disengagement, knowing this is
the only plan that could lead into the road map."

A US diplomatic official said the reason the Prime Minister's Office gave
for declining the joint press conference was to spare Sharon the need to
answer questions - while standing next to Rice - dealing with his precarious
position in the Knesset, where he lost three no-confidence votes this week,
and with declining public support for disengagement as reflected in the
polls.

Herb Keinon contributed to this report