Indyk speaks on regional issues
US Undersecretary of State for Near East Affairs Martin Indyk said yesterday that the US believes, "The Israeli people are now looking for a way to move forward in the peace process," expressing his belief that the Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak wants to move the peace process forward.
He said Barak "can play piano with two hands," indicating that he is able to move forward on more than one peace track at a time.
Indyk said he expects Barak to complete the formation of his coalition government within a few weeks, after which the US "will become very active in supporting the efforts of all sides to reinject momentum into the peace process." He called for implementation of the Wye agreement and resumption of final status talks, as well as the resumptions of negotiations on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks.
He said the US role is to be an "intermediary and an honest broker" in the peace process, saying, "In the end of course the parties themselves have to make the peace. It can't be imposed on them, and it wouldn't be lasting if it was imposed on either side."
Indyk refused to indicate US support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying, "The question of Palestinian statehood is a question that should be resolved between the parties in the negotiations." He also reiterated the US position that unilateral actions should not be taken. "The Palestinians already have control of all the major Palestinian cities in the West Bank, and of course control over Gaza. And the best, most effective, and indeed the only effective way for them to expand their control in the West Bank and establish a basis for viable self-government is through the negotiations," he added.
"We want to see Palestinians free in their own land," he said.
Questioned on Israeli settlement building, he said, "This kind of settlement activity where settlers are taking to the hilltops is the kind of unilateral activity which we think is destructive for the environment of a positive movement in the peace process. The prime minister-elect's government has not yet been formed, he is not yet in power, and so he is not in a position to take action yet."
Indyk continued, "We hope when the Israeli government is formed there will be an understanding reached about what kind of settlement activity is not acceptable, and what kind would be supported. Natural growth within existing settlements that doesn't expand beyond the existing boundaries of the settlements is not something that should be a problem to anybody, but the taking of the hilltops for the express purpose of trying to expand the settlements and grab territory before the negotiations, is something that we feel is not productive for the negotiations."
He indicated that maintaining Jerusalem as an undivided capital for Israel is "a consensus position in Israel," but said that position "doesn't mean that it's impossible to find ways to come up with solutions that meet the Palestinian minimum requirements as well."
On the promised Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon within one year, Indyk said that if there is the need for a peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon should Israel withdraw, "It would be most logical to see an expansion of UNIFIL's capabilities to play the kind of role of peacekeeping that might be necessary when the agreement is struck." However he said, "We have been involved in assisting the Lebanese army to improve its capabilities, particularly with equipment. And we would hope that the Lebanese army would play the primary role in protecting Lebanon's borders and exercising control of the Lebanese territory."
On the Syrian talks with Israel, Indyk said that no agreement had been reached when talks broke off in 1996, but he said, "Significant progress was made in those negotiations." He said that among unsettled issues between Syria and Israel, "Particularly, they did not reach agreement on the all-important security arrangements, and it is those that would have to be the focus of any resumed negotiation."
On Iraq, Indyk said, "Iraq is in total defiance of the Security Council," adding, "Sanctions must stay on the regime as long as it is in this posture of refusing to implement the Security Council resolutions." He indicated that the US supports expansion of the oil-for-food program to help ease the effect of the sanctions on the Iraqi people.
He said that the US supports the Iraqi opposition's attempts to create a new government, saying that there are indications of a weakening of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government. "I think there are a lot of signs that Saddam Hussein is in trouble. He is facing continued uprisings and rebellions in the south. He is of course brutally suppressing them. But he is not succeeding in that. He is challenging us in the no-fly zones, and our pilots are responding in self-defense, and as a result he has been seriously weakened militarily. He faces problems within the family, within the ruling elite, within the Republican Guard. They are all signs of trouble there. He is very much on the offensive. The Iraqi dinar is being devalued constantly, and he is unable to get the sanctions lifted, something that he promised would be achieved last year," he said.
This comes as the US earlier this week met with a delegation of Iraqi opposition leaders and said it would take steps to offer "non-lethal" aid to the opposition. "As to the provision of lethal equipment, we don't think the conditions are ripe yet for us to be doing that. We do not see that it is viable or effective to arm an outside opposition group and try to insert it in Iraq. We are rather looking at ways to support the opposition internally," he said.
"We want to see an Iraqi government that represents the interests of all of Iraq, this wonderful mosaic of Iraqi communities, that include the Sunni, the Shi'a, the Kurds, Turkomens and others," Indyk said.