U.S. Pressed to Revive Mideast Peace Process; U.N., Europe, Russia Explore Alternatives
With the Palestinian Authority on the verge of collapse, the United States is coming under growing pressure to revive the deadlocked Middle East peace process -- or face the prospect that its partners will begin looking for alternatives, according to European and U.N. diplomats.</br></br>The United Nations, the European Union and Russia, the other three parties in the diplomatic quartet that sponsors the "road map" for peace launched by President Bush in June, now fear that 2004 will be a lost year in the peace process because of the U.S. presidential election, the officials said.</br></br>Charging that the road map is "completely paralyzed" and the quartet held "hostage" by a moribund process, a senior European diplomat said yesterday that frustrated U.S. allies are interested in looking at other options, including the unofficial Geneva accord outlined by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.</br></br>"We're so frustrated with the constant delays," said the European diplomat. "We don't accept putting the idea in the fridge for months. . . . If the United States says it does not want to do anything, then maybe we should organize an alternative."</br></br>In the vacuum, the Bush administration's partners in the peace process are also warning that U.S. inaction would strengthen Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hand and allow Israel to unilaterally create a de facto Palestinian entity on about 40 percent of the West Bank and Gaza.