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07/13/2004:
"Envoy:Palestinian Authority May Collapse"
by Edith M. Lederer The Guardian UKUNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Mideast envoy on Tuesday said the Palestinian Authority has made no progress toward combating terror attacks against Israel and is ``in real danger of collapse.''
Terje Roed-Larsen's assessment received a rebuke from the Palestinians and praise from the Israelis, despite his criticism of Israel's lack of progress in dismantling new settlements and freezing settlement activity.
U.S. Ambassador John Danforth called it ``a good ... balanced presentation'' which stressed that progress toward peace must come through the political process and the road map endorsed by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
He said the U.N. envoy's view of the Palestinian Authority's weakness raised an ``alarm'' and ``a question of whether it's possible to have a negotiated peace if one side is so weak that there isn't anything to negotiate with.''
Roed-Larsen painted a grim picture of lawlessness in the Palestinian Authority, its failure to institute critical reforms, and he blamed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
He lamented that there was ``no sign'' of the bold leadership needed to tackle Palestinian reform and move toward peace.
``The Palestinian Authority, despite consistent promises by its leadership, has made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror, and to reform and reorganize the Palestinian Authority,'' he said.
...Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian U.N. observer, disagreed, saying Roed-Larsen presented ``a completely distorted picture.''
``The Palestinian Authority has serious problems, but I would say that this is the direct result of Israeli policies and Israeli actions,'' he said. ``We have occupation. We have an occupying power that has been engaged on a daily basis in illegal activities, war crimes.''
``It's strange for him to play the role of the cheerleader, basically, of Mr. Sharon,'' the Palestinian envoy said of Roed-Larsen, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Al-Kidwa also criticized the U.N. envoy's support for Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and his failure to urge Israel to comply with the world court's advisory opinion calling for the destruction of the barrier it is building to seal off the West Bank.
As for peace, Al-Kidwa warned that ``there is no road map without a cessation of settlement activities and a cessation of the construction of the wall.''
By contrast, Israel's deputy ambassador Arye Mekel called Roed-Larsen's statement ``very reasonable.''
``Not that we agreed with every word,'' he said, ``but maybe for the first time we heard a very clear and a very sharp criticism of the Palestinian Authority.'' full article
NEWS FLASH
Media Coverage "Tends to" Reflect Israeli Perspective Guardian UK
