Powell says he is pleased with Sharon, Arafat responses to his call for new peacemaking

By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have promised to cooperate in new U.S. peacemaking efforts, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday.

Sharon agreed to form a working committee and to deal with two U.S. envoys, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and retired Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni, Powell said.

Arafat telephoned after Powell's policy speech in Louisville, Ky., Monday to express his satisfaction and to say he was ready to cooperate, Powell said.

Amre Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, and others are rallying to the U.S. initiative, Powell said. "So we have a new opportunity before us, an opportunity that both parties will seize."

"The United States will do its part," he said.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who had just met with Powell, offered his endorsement as well.

"I think this is a very important and impressive speech about the Middle East peace process," he said.

In his speech Monday, Powell called for an end to Jewish housing construction on the West Bank and in Gaza, reiterated his support for establishment of a Palestinian state and urged Israel and the Palestinians to stop fighting and start peacemaking.

The Syria Times, which takes its cues from the government, said Powell's speech was "evidence of a possible change in the U.S. foreign policy."

Zinni's main task will be to try to get Israel and the Palestinians to cooperate on security arrangements in West Bank areas closest to Israel, a senior U.S. official said.

The former general will be in the area for an extended period, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sharon is due in Washington in early December for talks with President Bush and Powell. He has offered to consider statehood for the Palestinians while indicating he was not prepared to yield much territory to them, especially while violence continued.

AP-WS-11-20-01 1840EST