William Burns: War against Iraq is not imminent, or inevitable; strong US commitment to ME peace
Regional-USA, Politics, 10/24/2002

Talking to correspondents of Arab and foreign media correspondents in Damascus on October 22nd, the US Assistant Secretary of State, William Burns said that he had useful and candid discussions in Damascus.

He explained "It gave me an opportunity to consult and to convey President Bush's very strong determination to pursue the vision of a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that he's talked about publicly, as well as to resume progress towards the comprehensive peace towards which we are all still committed." He added that the ME process must be based on familiar foundations, namely Madrid terms of reference; the principle of land for peace; UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 1397; President Bush's speech of June 24th; as well as the Arab Summit initiative, which we believe continues to hold a great deal of promise."

He continued that he reviewed the efforts of the Quartet to produce a practical roadmap for achieving that vision, and stressed that all sides have obligations if we are to achieve that outcome. He expressed strong belief that is the only way to end the suffering of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and to bring about the peace and security that the peoples of Israel and Palestine both deserve "if we are to succeed in ending occupation and building two states and resuming progress towards comprehensive peace."

Burns said that during his discussions with President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouk Shara: "I stressed President Bush's determination to achieve a new Security Council resolution on Iraq, and to achieve full Iraqi compliance with its clear obligations to the international community to disarm its weapons of mass destruction."

He commented that the war against Iraq is not imminent or inevitable, adding that President Bush has made clear that he sees war as a last resort. But "we and our partners in the international community are determined to see full Iraqi compliance."

Following his presentation, Burns said replying to a question on the overshadowing concern on the neighboring countries of Iraq that a military strike will lead to the fragmentation of Iraq and setting up a Kurdish state, that " there has been no decision made at this point by President Bush about the use of force. Our focus, as I emphasized, is on achieving a new Security Council resolution, sending the strongest possible international message to the Iraqi regime that it must comply fully." He continued that the United States has also been very clear about its commitment to the territorial integrity of Iraq and to its stability. And we're very mindful of the concerns of Iraq's neighbors."

Answering another question if Syria is now apart of the Quartet, and the efforts expected from all parties, Burns said " I think our partners in the Quartet expect of all sides -- and that includes Israel and the Palestinians as well as neighboring Arab states as well as others in the international community -- a determination on the one hand to work for the peaceful principles that I described earlier and that have produced earlier achievements in the peace process at Madrid and in agreements reached after that and in achievements before that. And we must all work against the violence and terror, that -- as I emphasized before -- do a very great deal to undermine the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians and others for that kind of a peaceful outcome."

He emphasized " We are firmly committed in the United States and in the Quartet to achieving an end to occupation and to an outcome in which two states Israel and Palestine can live side-by-side in peace and security. But that outcome cannot be achieved without equally strenuous efforts on the part of all of us to end terror and violence."

On another question that a source close to the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said that Israel will not come under any American pressure since "you mentioned that all parties have commitments, and if the American side has offered or do have any assurances that Israel also will stop its oppressive measures if the Palestinians were committed to a certain kind of cease fire," Mr. Burns said that the US is absolutely committed to all sides fulfilling their obligations. He explained that when President Bush met Prime Minister Sharon in Washington last week, he made very clear our commitment to that principle, and our deep concern -- the President's own personal concern -- about the suffering of Palestinians under occupation, his deep concern about the deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians, and about the importance of moving to ease humanitarian conditions and end those practices if we're to be able to move in the direction I described before.

On if the US have assurances that Israel will not go back on its commitments to these peace initiatives or peace agreements, the US official reiterated US commitment to US peace by saying " All I can say, is to stress again that we are determined to build on progress that's been made in the past, to build on the foundation which with such great difficulty has been achieved in the past, whether at Madrid or in other agreements, and to use that foundation to revive a serious political process to produce not only a two state outcome to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and a fair and dignified resolution for both peoples, but also the comprehensive peace that I think we all must seek."

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