.....E.U. foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg Monday, officially called "on both sides to resume negotiations on the peace process without further delay." At next week's quartet meeting, the Europeans plan to outline several conditions on the peace process in exchange for supporting Sharon's plan, an E.U. diplomat who spoke to the Forward said.
Asked if E.U. officials think they are in a good bargaining position because of America's need for support in Iraq, the diplomat replied: "Yes, we do see the U.S. looking for international support in the U.N. process for Iraq — sure."
Israel and its backers in Washington are concerned that the need to win support from U.N. and E.U. leaders on Iraq will cause the White House to give in to their demands regarding the peace process. In particular, Israel supporters say, they fear that in an effort to stabilize Iraq, Bush will force Sharon to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, despite its failure to fight terrorism and adopt meaningful political reforms.
"Jewish groups were concerned with the Israel-Iraq linkage from the beginning but we were able to stop it," said the director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman. But, he added, "now it has resurfaced in an uglier way with Brahimi and the letter from the British ambassadors."
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....."The president's need to spread the burden of responsibility in Gaza and Iraq at the same time renders him vulnerable to the demands of his putative partners in Palestinian state-building," wrote Indyk, a top Middle East adviser in the Clinton administration. He argued that "these chickens will come to roost in early May," when America's quartet partners "seek their own letter of support of U.S. assurance," and, next, when King Abdullah of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak start making demands....
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=nir200404291034
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