WASHINGTON, March 7 (UPI) -- Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni will return to the region on Sunday in an effort to capitalize on "an opening" for discussing a broader peace and to help seek a dampening to Israeli-Palestinian violence, which is a roadblock to that effort, President Bush said Thursday.
The announcement comes just days ahead of Vice President Dick Cheney's 10-day, 12-country swing through the volatile region.
"I'm deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life and escalating violence in the Middle East," Bush said from the White House Rose Garden. "This is a matter of great interest to the United States and all who want peace in the region and in the world.
"There is a roadmap to peace. The Tenet security work plan will bring parties together to reduce the violence, improve the security situation and return to the path of peace. The Tenet work plan is the first step towards implementing the Mitchell committee report in full and resuming a political process between the sides."
The Tenet plan, named after Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet involves security meetings between the two sides, efforts to end violence and implementation of confidence-building measures to kickstart peace negotiations.
Earlier this month Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah dangled formal Arab recognition of the state of Israel if Israel would relinquish territory conquered in the 1967 war.
"Recent ideas put forth by the Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia have created an opening for discussing this broader peace and for the normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel," Bush said. "The United States is committed to exploring this opening."
Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general, is the former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, which encompasses the Middle East.
Bush, speaking to reporters, stressed that it is his long-standing position that Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat needs to give his "maximum effort" to tamp down violence in order to implement the Tenet work plan, so that the parties can renew their efforts for a broader peace.
While Bush has met numerous times with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he has yet to invite Arafat to Washington. Conversely, Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken often with the Arab leader. Bush maintained that his administration "speaks with one voice."
"I've constantly called on Mr. Arafat to do a better job of reining in those who would wreak havoc on Israel. I also agree with the secretary of state that it is going to be very hard achieve a peaceful settlement if there is a tendency to want to constantly find a reason to escalate," Bush said.
On Wednesday Secretary of State Colin Powell broke the Bush administration's near 10-week silence in criticizing Israel's military retaliation on Palestinian militant attacks telling a House appropriations panel, "Prime Minister Sharon has to take a hard look at his policies to see whether they will work. If you declare war against the Palestinians thinking that you can solve the problem by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed, I don't know that that leads us anywhere."
The president backed up his secretary of state Thursday when he said, "It sounded like he had pretty tough words for all parties. ... I thought that the secretary's comments were wisely balanced."
Early reaction from the Palestinian side was been enthusiastic. In Washington, Ed Abington a senior adviser to the Palestinian Authority told United Press International the president "seemed to change significantly the perception that it was all on the shoulders of Arafat to bring the violence down and the situation would return to normal if Arafat would do that. He clearly said Israel shares a burden of the responsibility."
The Israeli Embassy in Washington, however, also welcomed the statement. Mark Regev, a spokesman for the embassy said in reaction Thursday, "Israeli policy has consistently been designed to bring about the implementation of the Tenet working paper so as to move into the Mitchell process. We are committed to those goals. We will lend our full support to Zinni's visit so as to further those goals."
For the last three months, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has called privately for Zinni to return to the region along with other members of Israel's more dovish Labor Party. Zinni last conducted talks in January, but left after the Israelis seized a cargo boat carrying 50 tons of small arms and explosives both Washington and Jerusalem said were headed to the Palestinian Authority.
Cheney, who is due to leave Washington on Sunday, told reporters that the escalating violence in the region was only one of the subjects he would be discussing with Arab and Jewish leaders. He said he would address Crown Prince Abdullah's initiatives, the continuing war on terrorism and other bilateral issues with his host countries. He also plans to visit troops stationed in the region.
(UPI White House Correspondent Rick Tomkins contributed to this story.)
