Features

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke Thursday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders after he learned that Israeli soldiers fired on a convoy carrying Palestinian security chiefs. 

“We wanted to ensure that escalation would not ensue,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. 

The incident came after high-level security officials from both sides held inconclusive talks in Israel about how to halt the bloodshed in the region. 

A U.S. representative attended the meeting “to facilitate, to monitor and to report back any developments” to Powell, Boucher said. “We think they had a positive and useful exchange, but I’m not in a position to go into detail on that particular meeting.” 

Powell first spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after hearing early Thursday morning that the convey returning to Gaza after the talks was fired upon. 

Boucher said details about the shooting were not clear, but Powell received assurances from Sharon that the convoy was not being singled out. 

“Israel does have a responsibility to provide  

for the safety and security of Palestinian officials traveling to and from the security meetings,” Boucher said. 

Powell then called Palestinian Yasser Arafat and was heartened that Arafat apparently had spoken with Sharon about the incident. 

“We would encourage that kind of cooperation,” Boucher said. But he noted that during such a volatile period, “public statements from both sides should highlight the need for utmost restraint to prevent deterioration of the serious situation on the ground.” 

The Bush administration has said the United States will not mediate as actively as it did under former President Clinton. Instead, the nation will rely on the Israelis and Palestinians to take the lead in direct talks. 

The United States was able to bring both sides in the issue “get together and talk to each other” Wednesday night in Israel, Boucher said. 

“That’s what we’re doing. That is, we think, the most useful thing for us to do right now,” he said. 

A coalition of lawmakers sent Bush a letter Thursday asking him to re-evaluate the United States’ relationship with the Palestinians, blaming them for the disintegration of peace talks in the region.  

The letter, signed by 209 representatives and 87 senators, asked Bush to consider closing the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington and stopping U.S. aid to the Palestinians.