Nation & world briefing
Israel, Palestine examine
new ‘road map’ to peace
Joel Greenberg
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
JERUSALEM — After months of
delays, a blueprint for Middle East
peace was formally presented to Is
rael and the Palestinians on Wednes
day, a plan to end 31 months of vio
lence and resume negotiations
leading to a comprehensive agree
ment and a Palestinian state in 2005.
But even as they received the docu
ment, Israeli and Palestinian officials
differed over how the plan, known as
the road map, should proceed.
The plan was released under the
pall of a suicide bombing early
Wednesday in which three Israelis
were killed and dozens wounded at a
Tel Aviv pub. Israeli officials insisted
that there could be no progress With
out effective action by the new Pales
tinian prime minister, Mahmoud Ab
bas, to halt such attacks.
Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, a militant offshoot of the
mainstream Fatah movement,
claimed responsibility for the bomb
ing, calling it a message to Abbas, who
had denounced terrorism and warned
that he would disarm the militants in a
speech Tuesday. On Wednesday, Ab
bas condemned the bombing.
Israeli security officials said that
both the bomber and an accomplice,
who fled when his explosives failed to
detonate, carried British passports and
had entered Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The road map was presented to Ab
bas, also known as Abu Mazen, in Ra
mallah by diplomats of the so-called
Quartet sponsoring the plan |P the
United States, the European Union,
Russia and the United Nations—after
the prime minister and his Cabinet
were sworn in. Confirmation of Abbas
and his Cabinet was a condition set by
President Bush for release of the plan.
Earlier in Jerusalem, the American
ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer,
handed a copy of the road map to
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his of
ficial residence.
The text was identical to a draft giv
en to the Israelis and Palestinians in
December. Both sides expressed reser
vations. Israel has in recent weeks
asked for 15 amendments to the plan,
but Quartet diplomats said that it was
being presented unchanged.
“We told the prime minister that
the road map would not be re
opened,” said UN envoy Terje Roed
Larsen after meeting Abbas.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is
expected to arrive May 8 for meetings
with Sharon and Abbas on the plan.
Bush on Wednesday called Abbas
“a man I can work with,” and White
House spokesman Ari Fleischer said
that Abbas would be invited to Wash
ington to meet with Bush, though he
did not give a date.
In a telephone conversation with
Powell, Sharon asserted that Abbas
would have to go beyond negotiating a
truce with militant groups, according
to a statement from Sharon’s office.
“The Prime Minister emphasized
that the aim is not to bring about a
cease-fire but a real war on terror, in
which the terrorist organizations will
be dismantled,” the statement said.
“The Prime Minister emphasized
that any progress in the political
process will be based solely on per
formance, and there will be no com
promises on the issue.”
Abbas is expected to tty to halt the
violence by restarting truce talks
with militant factions, a move pub
licly urged on him by Yasser Arafat,
the Palestinian leader, at a parlia
mentary session that approved the
new Cabinet. An all-out campaign
against the groups, who have defiant
ly refused to put down their guns,
runs the risk of igniting civil strife.
The leader of Hamas, Sheik
Ahmed Yassin, rejected the road map
Wednesday, vowing to continue at
tacks on Israel. “The road map aims
to assure security for Israel at the ex
pense of the security of our people,”
Yassin told Reuters. “Our resistance
will continue, and no one will stop it.”
While the Israelis are insisting on se
curity performance by the Palestinian
Authority as a condition for any action
on their part, Palestinian officials point
to language in the road map that
speaks of parallel moves by both sides.
“These commitments have to be
carried out in parallel by the parties,”
said Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian for
eign minister. “We cannot talk about
preconditions or sequences.”
In the first phase of the plan, the
Palestinians are supposed to end vio
lence, arrest militants and confiscate
illegal weapons as Israel scales back
military measures and gradually
withdraws troops from areas of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip taken in
the current conflict. Security coop
eration is supposed to resume be
tween the Israeli army and restruc
tured Palestinian security forces.
The Palestinians also are supposed
to carry out political reforms, includ
ing drafting a constitution and hold
ing elections. Israel is expected to lift
curfews, to ease restrictions of move
ment of Palestinians, to dismantle il
legal outposts built by settlers and to
freeze new building in settlements.
The second phase of the plan pro
vides for the possible creation of a
Palestinian state with provisional bor
ders. The final phase envisions negoti
ations on a permanent agreement, re
solving fundamental questions such as
the fate of Palestinian refugees, bor
ders, the status of Jerusalem and the
future of Jewish settlements in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In fresh violence on Wednesday,
three Palestinians were killed.
The army said that soldiers at the
Gaza Strip town of Rafah near the
border with Egypt opened fire at a
man spotted moving in the early
morning darkness toward their posi
tion, killing him. He was later found
to be unarmed, and it was unclear
what he was doing in tfie area.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Pales
tinians reported that a woman herd
ing a flock of sheep was killed by
army gunfire near the settlement of
Netzarim. The army said it was
checking the report.
© 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
News brief
Republican party
divided about tax plan
Jill Zuckman
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
WASHINGTON — Senate Repub
licans and administration officials
have begun trying to generate ma
jority support in Congress for Presi
dent Bush’s tax package despite dis
sent within the GOP.
Congressional leaders met with
Bush at the White House on Tues
day night and Wednesday morning,
with the president urging lawmak
ers to pass $550 billion in tax cuts,
including his centerpiece plan to
eliminate taxes on stock dividends.
In the narrowly divided upper
chamber, four Republican sena
tors have blocked Bush’s proposal,
with two opposed to any tax cuts
and two others opposed to approv
ing cuts totaling more than $350
billion.
Adding to Bush’s problems, Fed
eral Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan told the House Finan
cial Services Committee on
Wednesday that he opposes expen
sive tax cuts that would increase
the already large deficit.
Both the House Ways and Means
Committee and the Senate Finance
Committee are expected to craft
their tax proposals next week.
© 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
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Resumes and Recruitment
Tuesday, May 6th, 3:30PM - 5:00PM,
EMU Umpqua Room
ireer Fair recruiters and the Career Center will present examples
he best and the worst resumes candidate* have actually submitted.
We will also discuss best (and worst) practices for job-seekers
career fairs - learn tips on beittq both professional and effective!
kY MAY 7
EMU BALLROOM I0AM-3PM
CAREER
200
cicnce
1 Wednesday
L\ay7. 2005
\0y\l\ to 5
^affroom
^Profession (Panels
^Wednesday, l\av 7 th, 200'
• Optometry, Dentistry, Podiatry
.5-4 PM • 2400 McKenzie Hall
• Allopathic Medicine, Osteopathic, Naturopathic
4- 5 PM • 2400 McKenzie Hall
• Nursing, Nurse Practitioner, Physician's Assistant
5- 6 PM • 471 McKenzie I lali
• Ohirdpraeiic, Phy sical I hcrapy, and Occupational Therapy
5-6 PM • 2400 McKenzie Hall