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| International Briefs: Secretary of State makes her first visit to Middle East |
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Secretary of State Madeleine Albright began a week-long
trip to the Middle East Tuesday to try to reverse the rapidly deteriorating
state of Arab-Israeli relations. Although this is perhaps her most difficult
challenge as secretary of state, a senior State Department official said that
Albright's goal was "to help Israel and the Palestinians recognize they have a
common destiny in peacemaking."
Albright plans to be tough with both Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Her message to Arafat will be to increase terrorist arrests and dismantle the terrorism infrastructure. Albright will press on Arafat to take tough actions against militant groups, even though such actions might be risky to Arafat himself. She plans to tell Netanyahu that concern over Israel's safety is no reason to renege on the commitments made by previous Labor governments in the Oslo accords for phased withdrawals on the West Bank. This is Albright's first trip to the region as secretary of state. She will visit Israel, the West Bank, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and possibly Lebanon. Source: USA Today Online, Sept. 9.
This item appeared in the News section of the September 19, 1997 issue. |
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