Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirmed the Bush administration's commitment to the road map as a basis for peace in the Middle East and underscored the opportunity created by Israel's proposed withdrawal from settlements in Gaza and the West Bank as a means of moving forward in that process.

Speaking about Israel's withdrawal with Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Al-Muasher April 20, Powell said, "Something people have looked for, for the first time in decades, is about to happen, and we have to work hard with the international community to help the Palestinians prepare themselves for this opportunity."

Foreign Minister Al-Muasher told reporters, "A withdrawal from Gaza should be part of a bigger effort and, indeed, an effort to resume the road map towards a two-state solution."

Both Powell and Al-Muasher affirmed that final status issues related to the creation of a Palestinian state must be resolved through mutual agreement of the two parties.

"I was very reassured by what the secretary and the U.S. administration has stated regarding the need not to prejudge final status issues, but to leave that to the parties themselves," he said.

Al-Muasher reiterated that King Abdullah's early return to Jordan before his scheduled April 21 meeting with President Bush should not be seen as indicative of strains in U.S-Jordanian relations.

"His Majesty will be back in two weeks, where we will continue these discussions on ways to revive the peace process, on ways to implement the road map, and on ways to arrive at a two-state solution and achieve the president's vision of June 4th, 2002," he said.

Secretary Powell noted, "I know the president is anxious to exchange views with King Abdullah when he returns in two weeks' time."

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
April 20, 2004

Remarks by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
And His Excellency Marwan Jamil Al-Muasher,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
After Their Meeting

April 20, 2004
C Street Entrance
Washington, D.C.

(11:30 a.m. EDT)

SECRETARY POWELL: Foreign Minister Muasher and I have just had a very successful conversation about issues of mutual interest. As you would of course expect, we discussed the situation in the Middle East, and I briefed the Foreign Minister on the President's continued commitment to his vision of June 2002, the road map, and the desire to see a Palestinian state created that will live side by side in peace with Israel, and that final status issues associated with the creation of that state must be mutually agreed upon by the parties.

We discussed the issue of the President's meeting with Prime Minister Sharon last week. And as I conveyed to the Foreign Minister in that meeting and in the subsequent exchange of letters, the President reinforced this view of no prejudicing of final status outcomes because they have to be mutually agreed, all elements of final status have to be mutually agreed upon, but that this should be done in the context of certain realities on the ground which the President noted.

We have discussed candidly and openly, as we always do, these certain realities, and we also noted that we should take advantage of the opportunity created by the evacuation of settlements for the first time in decades. Something people have looked for, for the first time in decades, is about to happen, and we have to work hard with the international community to help the Palestinians prepare themselves for this opportunity.

I said to the Minister that we'll be having a Quartet meeting. I hope it will be in the early part of May, and I am still coordinating calendars with all of the Quartet members, so we can consider this issue. I thanked the Minister for the support that Jordan has provided to the United States in the war on terror, and particularly, the efforts they have made to secure our embassy and our personnel in Jordan.

It was another good action on the part of Jordanian authorities this morning to intercept and bring to summary justice some of those who are trying to upset peace within the kingdom. And I also mentioned to the Foreign Minister that we recognize that His Majesty had to return home yesterday, but we look forward to receiving him back in the United States in a couple of weeks. His Majesty and the Kingdom of Jordan, together, are great friends of the United States. We value that friendship, both with Jordan and with his Majesty, and we look forward to receiving him. I know the President is anxious to exchange views with King Abdallah when he returns in two weeks time.

Mr. Minister.

FOREIGN MINISTER MUASHER: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much.

I've had a very productive meeting with the Secretary, in which we, indeed, discussed the issues pertaining to the peace process, and I was very reassured by what the Secretary and the U.S. Administration has stated regarding the need not to prejudge final status issues, but to leave that to the parties themselves.

We both agree that the Israeli plan should be -- a withdrawal from Gaza should be part of a bigger effort and, indeed, an effort to resume the road map towards a two-state solution, which should be the really only acceptable outcome of this process.

We continue to have these discussions. And as the Secretary stated, as we have stated yesterday, His Majesty had to go back to Jordan, but will come back again in a couple of weeks. My presence here is an indication of the strength of the relationship that we have with the United States, with which we continue to work very closely on a number of issues, including on the peace process.

And I would like to state here that I've seen press reports this morning that talk about a problem with the United States. These statements, these reports, are not true. We do not have a problem with the United States and we continue to work with the United States very closely, not only on the issue of the peace process but on other issues as well.

And as we indicated in our statement yesterday, His Majesty will be back in two weeks, where we will continue these discussions on ways to revive the peace process, on ways to implement the road map, and on ways to arrive at a two-state solution and achieve the President's vision of June 4th, 2002.

Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: We have time just for two questions.

QUESTION: Mr. Minister, I wondered if you thought the President's statement carries any weight, when the President of the United States says things have changed on the West Bank since 1967, there are Jewish cities there, and he wants to maintain the Jewish character of Israel, speaking of the right of return.

Is this, just as we say in the law, obiter dicta, or do you take it as a serious statement?

FOREIGN MINISTER MUASHER: The President -- all the President's statements are serious and the President made it clear in his statement that final status issues are to be decided by the parties, and that no issue is off the table. And, as such, we think also that these issues, not just the right of return, not just the refugee issues, but all issues related to the peace process, settlements, the borders, all these issues should be left to the parties alone to decide.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you've said that the U.S. is committed to the President's speech in 2000 about a Palestinian state. This state will be based on what? On terms of who, the Israelis? On what terms? Shouldn't the state have land and territories?

(In Arabic.)

SECRETARY POWELL: The President has made it clear that he wants this to be a viable state that has contiguity, and the final shape of the state will be determined in final status negotiations between the two parties. It has been our consistent position. There has been no change to that position.

Thank you.

(Secretary escorts the Foreign Minister Muasher to his car.)

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, President Mubarak said that hatred of America is now, in the Arab world, is greater than it's ever been. Is he right?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think that people should look at what the United States has embarked upon in Iraq to create a democracy where people will be free and not at the mercy of a dictator, without mass graves being filled.

I think as people watch the United States pursue the new opportunity that is before us, with respect to the evacuation of these settlements and how we can convert this property into constructive use that will benefit the Palestinian people, I think as people see what the Administration is planning to do and what President Bush is determined to do with respect to a Middle East trade initiative, we are anxious to work with the Arab nations on their ideas for reform within the region, I think that people will see over time that the United States is committed to the welfare, benefit, and the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the Arab nations, and especially the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the Palestinian people.

The Middle East peace process was not moving. Despite the Mitchell Plan, the Tenet Plan, the Zinni Plan and a lot of other efforts, we were not seeing any movement. And with the initiative that was taken last week by the President, we are now looking at the possibility of settlements being evacuated, something that people have asked for and wanted for a long time. And it will be done ultimately with mutual agreement between the parties on the final status issues. And I hope, as people understand that and see progress in all of these areas, the difficulties we're having with Arab opinion toward the United States will change.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, if I could have one more -- so I can get it out of the way -- on the book? On the book. Could you just clarify one thing? Do you believe that you were informed of the decision to go to war before Prince Bandar was?

SECRETARY POWELL: This is becoming quite unreal. If you read the book, if you read the book Prince Bandar was briefed on plans, plans that had to do with our deployment and what we might need from the kingdom with respect to our deployment. I was intimately familiar with those deployment plans. I worked on them; I was consulted on them. They were presented to the National Security Council. I was present whenever these plans were presented.

So first, a suggestion that somehow a plan was presented to Prince Bandar that I was not familiar with is just flat wrong. It was wrong. And I was aware that he was going to be briefed on the plan because I knew what we were going to be asking of him. It wasn't just a military request; it had a political dimension to it.

On the second point, Prince Bandar, as he said last night, when the question arose on certain television programs, he was briefed on the plan and he was told that if it came to war, this is the plan that we are developing. And as he said last night, and as Dr. Rice said on Sunday and as I said yesterday, no decision was communicated to Prince Bandar of a decision -- of a decision on the part of the President to go to war. We were making it clear to him that if, unfortunately, war came, this is the plan that we will use and that's why it was important at that point to bring the Saudis into it because of our deployment schedules.

And so the next story that comes from that is that somehow two days later, I was informed by the President of a decision. Not the case. And it really doesn't say that either in the book or in anything I've said about it. The President and I had a conversation that day in January, the 13th, I believe it was, where he expressed concern at the diplomatic process and whether it would achieve the solution that was necessary, and that was to deal with the regime of Saddam Hussein. And he thought it might be necessary to use force and he was committed to do that if the diplomatic track did not work.

And after our brief meeting -- and it was brief because I'm well aware of the President's thinking and we discussed this issue many times -- I left his office knowing of his determination to resolve this matter, hopefully peacefully, but if not, then through force. And I went back out to the United Nations and to my work to try to achieve a diplomatic solution, as the President instructed me to do. And for the two months after that, until the decision was made to use military force, the President constantly sought a diplomatic solution and he has said so. And he has made it clear, as have all of my colleagues in the National Security Council made clear, no decision was made to go to war until the decision was made to go to war in March, regardless of what speculation there is about when the President made the decision. He made the decision in March and we all received that decision together.

And with respect to my advice to the President, my advice to the President is to give him my best advice on all aspects of every foreign policy issue he faces. That's my obligation. And I've tried to meet that obligation to the best of my ability and will continue to do so.

Thank you.