Powell Explains President Bush's Middle East Policy

Secretary of State Colin Powell said on five nationally televised news programs on June 25 that President Bush's recently announced Middle East peace initiative has met with positive reactions throughout the region. In answer to a reporter's question, Powell said he had not heard from the Saudis yet, but that "all of the other Arab nations that have spoken have given positive responses."

During his discussions of the new U.S. policy, Powell reiterated the important contributions that a democratically elected Palestinian government would make to the peace process.

"We would prefer that the leadership that comes up as a result of the election and the new government that will be formed will be representative and will reflect the views and the will of the Palestinian people not to continue down the road of terror and violence," he said on Fox News's Special Report. Responding to questions about Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat's presence in the future of the provisional state, Powell explained that the President had specifically avoided mentioning his name so as not to overly personalize the issue.

"He wanted to talk to the Palestinian people," he explained during an interview on CNN. "He wanted to talk to all Palestinian leaders and say to them that the direction which you are going now...is not moving you in the right direction."

Powell refused to comment on possible candidates or results in the proposed Palestinian elections, prior to the actual implementation of new constitutional procedures.

"Hold elections which are free and fair and let the Palestinian people make a judgment based on the circumstances they find themselves in, where they are not able to get to work, they are not able to lead normal lives, and let them evaluate the leadership that has produced these conditions," he said. "Then we will respond to what the outcome of that election is."

He acknowledged the possibility of radical candidates being chosen, but maintained that under more democratic conditions, a moderate leadership, committed to the peace process's success, would emerge.

"There are other leaders in the Palestinian movement," he said on the CBS Evening News, "and I think more leaders would surface if they believed there was going to be an open, democratic election."

Powell added that the United States would also request that the Israeli government take steps to ensure the Palestinians would be able to implement new constitutional reforms. He emphasized that the President had already called on Israel to withdraw its forces to positions held before September 2000, freeze further settlement activity, and restore Palestinian revenue as prerequisites to peace.

"With respect to what the President said about his expectations for the Israeli side," he said in his interview on NBC, "his expectations are rather high...and he has put his full weight behind that."

Powell noted that he had not set a specific date for his next trip to the Middle East, but that he was already analyzing initial reactions to the President's plan so that "when I do go, it will be a trip that will have a purpose and we'll be able to accomplish something."

He acknowledged that the Administration was responding to at least one initial concern from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: the apparent lack of a specific framework in the President's speech.

"He's looking for details, and those details will be forthcoming." Powell said on Fox. "We're going to be designing that mechanism...There are things that can be done right now, even while we are looking for that new leadership."

Working in partnership with local and regional leaders, he said, the President's vision of "a state living in peace, side by side with Israel," could become a reality within the proposed three-year timeframe.

Washington, D.C.
June 25, 2002