Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei called on the United States yesterday to back an Egyptian offer to underpin security in the Gaza Strip following a promised Israeli withdrawal. Qorei, at a news conference here with Arab League chief Amr Moussa, said that âfor the Egyptian mission to succeed, it is necessary to get the unconditional support from the quartet, specifically from the United States.â The United States, along with Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, make up the diplomatic quartet that authored a Middle East peace roadmap last year envisaging the creation by 2005 of a Palestinian state. Qorei also said Israel must not commit âany violation while Egypt is conducting its operation of restructuring the Palestinian security services.â Egypt has offered to send 150 to 200 officers and security experts on a six-month mission to organize and train a 30,000-strong Palestinian security force. The premier was originally due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but the talks were called off due to Mubarakâs health.
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Instead, Qorei held talks with top Mubarak adviser Osama Al-Baz, who said Egypt âwould not go (to Gaza) to stop the Palestinians, but to help them maintain security and to train the different security forces.â El-Baz also warned Israel not think they could dismantle Jewish settlements in Gaza only to relocate the settlers to the West Bank. Such a move would only âfuel to the flamesâ, he said. He was convinced, he said, that Israelâs withdrawal from Gaza could initiate a process that could be continued within the framework of the road map for peace as it had been suggested by the Middle East Quartet. El-Baz said that representatives of the quartet comprising the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union were due to meet in Cairo next week. |