US expands envoy's mandate on Gaza issues: report

The White House has expanded the mandate of an American general to empower him to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on security issues during Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Previously, General William Ward was generally limited to assisting the PNA as it rebuilt its security forces, and he was specifically told not to intervene in discussions between the two sides.

But US officials concluded that the two sides were failing to coordinate effectively and needed a third party's help to make real progress before Israel leaves Gaza as planned in August, the newspaper said.

Ward's new role was disclosed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a breakfast meeting with a small group of reporters and Middle East experts on Friday and confirmed by a senior US official.

The White House has expanded the mandate of an American general to empower him to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on security issues during Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Previously, General William Ward was generally limited to assisting the PNA as it rebuilt its security forces, and he was specifically told not to intervene in discussions between the two sides.

But US officials concluded that the two sides were failing to coordinate effectively and needed a third party's help to make real progress before Israel leaves Gaza as planned in August, the newspaper said.

Ward's new role was disclosed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a breakfast meeting with a small group of reporters and Middle East experts on Friday and confirmed by a senior US official.

Abbas described the move as a tangible sign of an enhanced US involvement in resolving the decades-old conflict.

"We have noticed and felt an American commitment, and perhaps this commitment manifests itself through the mandate of General Ward, which will expand," Abbas was quoted as saying.

The senior US official said the original goal was not to put him in the middle of the two sides when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Ward in February.

In her announcement, Rice said that "the United States does not feel that it is necessary to intervene simply for the sake of intervening."

She said that "the bilateral security cooperation is more important than anything that we could do trilaterally."

With time running short before Israel leaves Gaza, a decision was made to direct Ward to take a much more active role in coordinating between the Israelis and Palestinians, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified US officials.

On Thursday, US President George W. Bush met with Palestinian President Mohmoud Abbas at the White House, promising to provide 50 million US dollars in aid for the PNA.

Bush also announced that he had asked Rice to travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah before the planned Israeli withdrawal.

Source: Xinhua