ASSOCIATED PRESS
With violence down and a new Palestinian prime minister in place, the Bush administration is renewing its drive for a Mideast accord, using America’s staunchest supporters of Israel — both inside and outside the U.S. government — as leverage with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
However, the Bush administration decided Tuesday to reduce U.S. loan guarantees to Israel by $289.5 million as a way of registering its disapproval of Israeli actions on the West Bank.
The cut will be made from $1.4 billion in U.S. guarantees due this year, the Israeli Embassy said. Overall, Israel has been due to receive $9 billion in guarantees over three years. The guarantees are designed to help the battered Israeli economy by making it easier for Israel to acquire loans at favorable rates.
The sum represents the cost of part of the West Bank barrier along the route that the United States has criticized. Israel says the barrier is needed to keep out suicide bombers; the Palestinians call it a land grab.
On the diplomatic front, assistant secretary of state William Burns will go to the region on Friday to talk to Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian officials, then report to Secretary of State Colin Powell during Powell’s trip to North Africa next week.
Sharon, meanwhile, sent his chief of staff, Dov Weisglass, to Washington for a meeting Tuesday at the White House.
The White House wants to encourage Israel to implement a plan to alleviate hardships for the Palestinians, including a pullback of Israeli troops on the West Bank and an easing of roadblocks to Palestinian travel.
In the Mideast, Palestinian officials plan to secure a pledge from militant groups next week to halt all attacks against Israel, which they will present along with a demand for full implementation of the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, the top Palestinian negotiator said Tuesday.
Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed to attend a conference beginning Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt. The groups are expected to commit to a cease-fire then, Saeb Erekat said.
While Israel has not formally committed to a cease-fire, officials appear to have eased off the insistence that Palestinian militant groups be disarmed. And its response to two fatal attacks in the last week has been subdued.
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