Powell open to Geneva accord
US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to carry on with plans to meet with proponents of an alternative peace plan, but claims the Middle East “road map” for peace is far from dead.
The new plan calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, together with the dismantling of most Jewish settlements.
The document also has scope for allowing Israel to decide how many Palestinian refugees can return to the Jewish state.
Mr Powell is currently on a three-nation tour of North Africa. He is to meet Morocco’s King Mohammed to discuss the Middle East peace process and regional issues.
He will then hold talks on Friday with the architects of the Geneva accord, which was launched on Monday.
But Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on Mr Powell to refrain from meeting with the Israeli opposition left-wingers and Palestinian moderates.
The peace plan was written by Israeli’s former justice minister Yossi Beilin, who worked on the historic Oslo accords, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, former Palestinian Information Minister. Israel says the authors are “traitors.”
“I think he is not helping the process. I think this a wrong step by a representative of the American administration,” warned Mr Olmert.
But Mr Powell said the meeting would not undermine US support for the Jewish state.
