Powell to travel again to Mideast for talks

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell

JERUSALEM -- The White House today said it would send U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell back to the Middle East next week in an attempt to strengthen the shaky truce between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The Bush administration is seeking to "further build upon the fragile cease-fire that's in place," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. He called Powell's trip a "confidence-building measure."

"The president has asked the secretary to go to the Middle East to secure efforts to preserve the cease-fire and to build upon it," Fleischer said.

Powell's last trip to the region was in February which was his first Mideast journey as secretary of state. Foremost during the trip were meetings with Israeli-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

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Powell, a retired U.S. Army general, served as Joint Chiefs chairman during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to carry out the terms of the U.S.- brokered truce agreement, but said it would continue to honor the deal.

Responding quickly, Arafat told reporters that the Israeli government's accusations were an effort to "deceive international public opinion."

Meanwhile, the truce was withstanding more blows as both a Palestinian and an Israeli were killed in two separate incidents on the West Bank on Wednesday.

The United States will also send Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns back to the region, U.S. diplomatic sources said. He is to meet with Arafat on Thursday in Ramallah.

Sharon met with his security cabinet to reassess the cease-fire after two Jewish settlers were shot and killed Monday.

Afterward the government issued a statement saying, "The government of Israel has determined that the Palestinian Authority has not fully complied with the Tenet document."

Ra'anan Gissin, a Sharon adviser, said, "We are trying to give the cease-fire another chance but I must say time is running out and it's up to Arafat to stop the hostility, stop the violence and the incitement and come back to the negotiating table. There is really not much time left."

Arafat, who had just returned from talks in Egypt, said it is Israel that is violating the agreement.

"It is an attempt to deceive international public opinion," Arafat told reporters. "They (the Israelis) are still firing from their tanks and machine guns and are still using internationally banned weapons, and the settlers are pursuing their crimes under the protection of the Israeli army. So their claims they are committed to a cease-fire is a lie."

An Israeli officer stands next to the body of an Israeli woman killed in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Homesh on Wednesday

In one of the two killings on Wednesday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said a 30-year-old Palestinian man was shot to death near a West Bank checkpoint. Israel Radio said the man came close to a checkpoint, and when he failed to respond to warnings to stop, soldiers fired at him.

At the Jewish settlement of Homesh on the West Bank, a settler was hit by gunfire and ambulance officials said he had died of his wounds. Settlers blamed Palestinian gunmen.

The Israel Defense Forces said the settler was killed near the entrance to the settlement by gunfire aimed at his car.

The shooting of the Palestinian was being investigated, the IDF said.

The Israelis said that terms of the truce negotiated by CIA Director George Tenet -- that the Palestinian Authority was supposed to stop the violence, arrest so-called "terrorists" and stop alleged incitement -- were not being honored.

The statement said, "The Palestinian Authority is fully responsible for people leaving Area A and going to Areas B and C to attack Israelis and then returning back to Area A."

Area A refers to the areas of the West Bank and Gaza under full Palestinian control. Areas B and C refer to those areas under joint or Israeli control.

The Palestinian Authority has been saying it is controlling those areas where it is in charge but cannot control actions outside its area.

Under the terms of the Tenet truce agreement, Israel is required to present a plan for the redeployment of its forces, opening the Palestinian territories.

The government statement said, "At the security meeting tonight the Army will present a redeployment plan, but it will not be carried out until there is a complete cessation of terror."

Sharon, who had a previously scheduled to trip to New York next week, was scheduled to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday of next week.