JERUSALEM - Even before he had held his planned meeting this morning with US President George Bush to discuss restoring calm to the Middle East, Israel's Ariel Sharon had come out against his American allies on a crucial issue.
The Israeli Prime Minister had prefaced the talks with a speech in
which he publicly insisted on a complete end to Palestinian attacks on Israelis before proceeding any further along the journey back to the negotiating table.
There had to be a "total cessation of violence" before he would move ahead with the US-backed Mitchell plan for restarting talks.
He told a reception of Jewish leaders in New York yesterday: "We cannot change (this demand), and you have to know we will not change it," he said.
His conditions - outlined on the same day as he launched another vituperative personal attack on Yasser Arafat, branding him as the "head of a terrorist gang" - jar sharply with the views of the US State Department and prompted speculation among his critics over whether he is serious about resuming talks.
The Americans believe it is unrealistic to expect Mr Arafat to secure a total end to attacks by Palestinian guerrillas - who have killed six Israelis since George Tenet, director of the CIA, secured bilateral agreement for a ceasefire plan a fortnight ago.
US officials talk instead in terms of "100 per cent effort" by the Palestinian leader, rather than achieving complete calm.
Yet Mr Sharon has arrived in Washington for his second visit in three months repeating his mantra that there can be no progress without an absolute end to violence, and that he will never negotiate "under fire".
As ever, he made no mention of the violent activities of his armed forces, which continue to imprison huge numbers of Palestinians in their villages, to shoot dead Palestinian demonstrators, to raze farmland, and to assassinate suspected militants.
The Israeli army has lowered its use of force markedly since the Tenet deal, yet eight Palestinians have been killed in the last two weeks.
The Israeli premier is insisting that the Palestinians first fulfil Israel's security demands - for instance, the end to violence and arresting militants behind suicide bombings.
Only after a full ceasefire and a substantial cooling-off period - he wants six weeks - will Mr Sharon agree to proceed further.
- INDEPENDENT
JERUSALEM - Even before he had held his planned meeting this morning with US President George Bush to discuss restoring calm to the Middle East, Israel's Ariel Sharon had come out against his American allies on a crucial issue.
The Israeli Prime Minister had prefaced the talks with a speech in
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