Clinton, in Egypt, wants Israeli settlement halt 'forever'
UNITED States (U.S.) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has defended America's stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy of the West Bank enclaves and wants to see their construction halted "forever."
Still, she said an Israeli offer to restrain - but not halt - construction represents "positive movement forward" toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Speaking after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Clinton, according to Agence France Presse (AFP), said Middle East peace talks must include the disputed city of Jerusalem.
"There is no doubt that moving toward a state that reflects the aspirations and the rights of the Palestinian people must include all of the issues that have been discussed and mentioned by President (Barack) Obama, and that includes Jerusalem," she said.
"We want to assure you that our goal is a real state, with a real sovereignty," she added at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.
Clinton extended a regional trip at the last minute to meet Mubarak after creating a storm by praising an Israeli plan to to restrict settlement construction.
Meanwhile, Israeli naval commandos yesterday seized a ship that defense officials said was carrying more than 60 tons of missiles, rockets and anti-tank weapons from Iran to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
The pre-dawn seizure near Cyprus was a rare interception of a suspected arms shipment by Israel, which has long accused Iran of arming its enemies. Israel offered no evidence to support its claim that the weapons were meant for Hezbollah.
Weapons including anti-tank missiles and Katyusha rockets were stashed on a commercial vessel operating under the guise of an aid ship, captained by a Pole and flying an Antiguan flag, Israeli defense officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the military had not officially released the information.
Based on intelligence reports, a naval unit patrolling the area intercepted and boarded the vessel without incident, defense officials said.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said the crew was not aware of the cargo's contents.
The ship, the Francop, was towed to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, where the weapons were being unloaded. The vessel is operated by United Feeder Services, a Cyprus-based shipping company that said it picked up the cargo in Damietta, Egypt.
An employee of the company's chartering department who would not identify himself said the ship had been bound from Egypt to Cyprus and from there to Lebanon and Turkey. He said the company did not know what was inside the containers or where the cargo originated.
The employee asked that his name not be used because the company had yet to formulate an official response.
Clinton yesterday said that the settlements are illegitimate but again described the plan "as unprecedented."
"Our policy on settlement activity has not changed. We do not accept the legitimacy," she said, adding that the Israeli offer, which would allow a limited expansion of the settlements, was "not what we prefer."
But "what we have received from the Israelis... is unprecedented," she said.
"It's a positive movement... just like the Palestinians made progress on security," she said.
The settlements in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 war with its Arab neighbours, are home to nearly 500,000 Israelis and are considered illegal by the international community.
Arab officials accused the Obama administration of reneging on its call earlier this year for a complete end to settlement building and said Clinton's clarifications did not go far enough.
In a new twist on Tuesday, Clinton made what appeared to be an inadvertent slip of the tongue in a television interview with the al-Jazeera network, referring to the goal of "an Israeli capital in east Jerusalem."
It has not been U.S. policy to favour including east Jerusalem in an Israeli capital; the Palestinians claim it as their capital, and the issue is one of the most important and delicate points that would have to be settled in any final peace deal between the two parties.
In the al-Jazeera interview, Clinton reiterated that Obama has clearly stated his desire for a halt to settlements. But she added that the Israeli offer of "restraint," to include an end to establishment of new settlements and other measures that limit settlement growth, might be close enough to the ultimate U.S. and Palestinian goal to merit embracing in the near future.
"It is nowhere near enough, but I think when you keep your eye on what we want to achieve, it is a better place to be than the alternative, which is unrestrained (growth)," she said.
