Mona Ziade
Daily Star staff

George W. Bush is pondering what to do about the Middle East, but his reluctance to dilute his pro-Israel bias is encouraging more Israeli military ventures against the Palestinians, while his growing antipathy for Yasser Arafat points to the possible political demise of the Palestinian leader with no heir-apparent in sight.

The US president also conceded that time was not ripe for Washington to press ahead with its plans to convene an international Middle East peace conference, ushering in another indefinite period of uncertainty and turmoil. He also put a damper on Arafat’s reform drive.

Israel, underscoring its own contempt for a Palestinian Cabinet shuffle unveiled over the weekend, sent tanks and troops back into Ramallah.

After a day-long siege, bulldozers sealed off all access to the already wrecked compound with rubble and frames of dozens of cars that had been flattened outside by the invading tanks.

Arafat was inside, but reportedly unhurt. It appeared that the Israelis were digging in for a long haul in a new siege of the compound, only five weeks after they ended a four-month incarceration of Arafat.

Other forces punched into Tulkarem, Jenin and nearby villages, in more assaults Monday, which went uncensured by Sharon’s White House host as he and Bush went into talks.

“Israel has the right to defend herself, and at the same time that Israel does so, the prime minister is willing to discuss the conditions necessary to achieve what we want, which is a secure region and a hopeful region,” Bush told reporters after the talks.

He said that and Sharon discussed “reforms necessary that would enable a Palestinian Authority to emerge,” adding that Arafat’s administration still had a long way to go toward reform before it could participate in a summit mooted for the summer.

“The conditions aren’t even there yet (for a summit). That’s because no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government,” the president said.

In turn, Sharon said that no progress on ending more than 20 months of violence was possible until Palestinian attacks against Israelis ceased.

the Israeli premier, who has been seeking to sideline Arafat said: “We must have a partner for negotiations. At the present time we don’t see yet a partner … with whom we’ll be able to move forward.”

Sharon came to Washington Sunday riding high after the US president snubbed Egypt’s appeal to jump-start the creation of a Palestinian state and again slammed Arafat, whom Bush has accused of failing to fight terror.

The meeting with Bush coincided with a flurry of Arab diplomacy in search of a way out of the impasse, including a meeting in Damascus between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Saudi Arabia’s veteran foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.
Diplomacy, however, was marred by the new thrust in Ramallah. The incursion also signaled that Sharon believed he would get no argument from Bush on Israel’s current moves against Arafat.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Israel was trying to undermine the Authority and that Sharon’s visit to Washington “shows that the US administration supports this occupation and operation.”

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Sharon had sent tanks to Ramallah to show his desire to thwart the PA and to harm Arafat.

“This is how Sharon … responds to Palestinian reforms,” Erekat told Reuters. “I think the blind now see Sharon’s goal and the deaf hear his words. I hope the American administration will realize where Sharon is heading with the region.”
One Palestinian man was killed and two were wounded in exchanges of fire around the city, Palestinian doctors said. Two soldiers were also wounded, the Israeli Army said.

The army arrested 27 people in Ramallah, including “a suicide bomber who was ready to be sent,” Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said. The Israeli troops were expected to remain in Ramallah for a “day or two,” he added.
Israeli forces also arrested about 15 suspects in the West Bank town of Hebron, Palestinian witnesses said.

In the Gaza Strip, powerful explosion rocked the Jebaliya refugee camp early Monday, destroying one building and damaging nearby homes, witnesses said.
An 18-year-old woman was killed and at least 25 people were wounded, including three in critical condition, hospital officials said. Witnesses said the blast came from inside the building, but Palestinian officials would not comment.

The military sweeps forced the postponement of the first meeting of Arafat’s nascent Cabinet, which he unveiled on Sunday, shrinking its composition from 31 to 21 portfolios in a move timed to score points with Bush ahead of the latter’s White House meeting with Sharon.

Significantly, Arafat’s reshuffle scrapped the post of minister for refugee affairs and there was no mention of how the shake-up would affect Farouk Kaddoumi, the Tunis-based chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s political department, who has for long been regarded as the Palestinians’ foreign minister in exile.

This could mean that Kaddoumi might be tasked with the pursuing issues related to the refugees, since he enjoys more freedom to remain in direct contact with the diaspora communities than ministers based in Palestinian-ruled territories.

In the most important change, Arafat named Abdel-Razzak Yahya, 73, as interior minister ­ a position that puts him in overall charge of the security forces. Arafat had kept the post for himself for the past eight years. Still Israel was unimpressed.
“This man represents the very old generation. So once again we have a commitment to the past and not to the future,” Ben-Eliezer said. ­ With agencies

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