U.S. envoys push return to Mideast 'road map'
Americans hold talks with Palestinians in West Bank
JERICHO, West Bank (CNN) -- The "road map" for Mideast peace may soon be back on track if Palestinians come through on critical obligations, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said U.S. offficials told Palestinian leaders Thursday.
The West Bank talks aimed to breathe life back into the peace process. Participants gave no specifics about what was discussed at the meeting in Jericho.
But Erakat said the U.S. envoys sent a clear message that if Palestinian leadership does its job by cracking down on terrorist groups and implementing key structural and economic reforms, then Israel's proposed withdrawal from Gaza may be only the beginning of a wider pullout that could eventually lead to an independent Palestinian statehood.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and Finance Minister Salam Fayyad joined Erakat at the meeting.
Among the U.S. envoys attending were National Security Council officials Stephen Hadley and Elliot Abrams and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns.
The U.S. diplomats had conferred earlier with senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem. The Americans also planned to meet later Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Sharon plans to visit President Bush on April 14 in Washington.
Backed by the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia, the road map calls for steps by both sides aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing an independent Palestinian state by 2005.
U.S. officials refuse to meet with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who they have said has failed to crack down on terrorism. Israeli officials have said Arafat has encouraged and supported terrorist attacks that have killed civilians.
In address Wednesday before the Palestinian parliament, Qorei denounced suicide terrorist bombings as "morally wrong" and an "obstacle to peace." (Full story)
Israel has been on higher security against possible terrorist attacks since March 22, when an Israeli airstrike killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas.
The U.S. State Department has labeled Hamas a terrorist organization. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as attacks against the Israeli military.
The attack on Yassin followed weeks of Israel's military operations into Gaza to counter possible terrorist attacks. Several Palestinians, including bystanders, have died in the operations.
Israel began the raids after a terrorist bus bombing killed eight people February 22 in Jerusalem. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a military offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The U.S. State Department also has designated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as a foreign terrorist organization.
On March 14, twin suicide bombings in Israel -- jointly claimed by Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- killed 10 people and derailed scheduled talks between Qorei and Sharon about the road map.
CNN's Sausan Ghosheh contributed to this report.
