Ramallah incursion may delay Bush proposal again

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress and Palestinian leaders on Sunday questioned President Bush's plan for an interim Palestinian state and urged stepped-up U.S. peacemaking efforts as Bush prepared to announce his Mideast blueprint.

But Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers entered Ramallah early today, and began to surround Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's shell-shattered compound. White House officials had cautioned that events in Israel could force a change again.

Bush and his advisers talked over the weekend about the details and timing of a long-awaited speech outlining his ideas. White House officials said they tentatively planned the address for this afternoon, but said they were waiting for Bush to make a final decision.

A senior White House official reaffirmed Sunday that Bush will outline a step-by-step proposal for establishment of a Palestinian state contingent on democratic reforms. It would create a Palestinian state within provisional borders late this year or early next year, provided that enough measurable progress has been made in reforming the Palestinian Authority and stemming terrorism.

The thorniest issues -- such as final borders, the control of Jerusalem and the return of refugees -- would be left to negotiations between Israel and the provisional state.

Bush delayed an announcement last week after two suicide bombings in Jerusalem that killed 26 Israelis and the Israeli army began seizing Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

Ahead of the official announcement, the administration's proposal was challenged by influential lawmakers and a Palestinian official.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath said his people would greet Bush's proposal for interim status "positively," but he was skeptical about its central provision.

"There is no such a thing as a provisional state," he said on Fox News Sunday. Still, Shaath said he was eager for the United States to lay out a peace plan soon. "The important thing is to have the United States involved with the international community because we cannot do it on our own with the Israelis. We need a third party, and there's no better than the Americans," he said.

"I don't know what a provisional state means," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., on CBS's Face the Nation. "Either you're a state or not a state."

In Ramallah, a half-dozen tanks were taking up positions around the compound, and Palestinian intelligence officials said about 40 were seen entering the city from the northeast. Two Israeli helicopters covered the incursion from above.

The incursion came moments after word Palestinian authorities had placed the spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, under house arrest in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, the Palestinians arrested dozens of Hamas members.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army called up 1,200 reservists Sunday to bolster forces in the West Bank.

Israeli troops are keeping at least 400,000 Palestinians under effective house arrest with round-the-clock curfews in the five Palestinian cities and towns they control -- Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya -- and a suburb of Ramallah.

-- Information from the New York Times was used in this report.

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