U.S. envoy in Middle East hopes to curb violence

WASHINGTON -- President Bush dispatched Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni back to the troubled region Thursday in hopes of halting widening violence, The Associated Press has learned. \nBush made the decision after his national security team advised that the action could help break a rising cycle of Middle East violence, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. \nBush was announcing the move later Thursday. \nThe official said Bush was prompted by positive but unspecified developments in the region. \nThe word came just hours after White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the envoy would not be returning unless there was an "opening where a return by General Zinni would do some good." \nSecretary of State Colin Powell said earlier that peacemaking would not be productive if the violence was not halted. \nIn a related development, the administration urged Israel on Thursday to halt the assaults that have raised the civilian death toll in Palestinian areas. \nThe attacks "clearly work against the overriding objective of reducing violence and returning to negotiations," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. \n"Such actions should be halted now," he said. "It is imperative that the Israel Defense Force exercise the utmost restraint and discipline to avoid further harm to civilians." \nFrustrated over its inability to stop bloodletting, the Bush administration has begun to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon while continuing to urge Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to call off attacks on Israelis. \nNeither plea seemed to have an impact. \nA Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a supermarket at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, killing himself and wounding four bystanders, just hours after another bombing was thwarted in the heart of Jerusalem. \nIsrael, meanwhile, raided two Palestinian refugee camps on the West Bank, shelled Palestinian police positions and fired missiles at Arafat's headquarters as he met there with the European Union's Mideast envoy Miguel Moratinos. \n"It's very important to find a way to stop the violence in the Middle East. The violence doesn't serve either party, either cause," Fleischer said. \nAnd, he said, Bush "does not want the region to get spun up into war. He wants the region to find ways to reduce the violence." \nBush has not joined the criticism of Israel, and Powell on Thursday eased back from his rebuke of Sharon for declaring that the Palestinians have to be hit hard. \nTestifying to the House Budget Committee on the Bush administration's request for $23.9 billion for international spending, Powell said Sharon was "reasonable" in wanting to reduce violence before making peace moves. \nUnder questioning by Rep. David Price, D-N.C., Powell said Israel was faced with a legitimate self-defense situation but "they have to be very careful with the means they use to defend their people." \nMildly criticizing Israel and the Palestinians together, Powell remarked: "I don't see the strategies being used by both sides will lead to a successful outcome." \nBut, Powell said "we haven't given up" in trying to nudge Israel and the Palestinians toward peacemaking recommendations by a commission headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell that both sides accepted. \nBefore testifying, Powell discussed the Middle East with Bush at the White House. \nBush wants to send Zinni back to the region, where he twice failed to restore a truce, but first wants a halt to the fighting, Fleischer said. \nOn Wednesday, Powell reproached Sharon for what was reported to be a declaration of war on the Palestinians and advised him "to take a hard look" at his policies. \n"If you declare war against the Palestinians and think you can solve the problem by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed — I don't know if that leads you anywhere," Powell said. \nSharon's office responded Thursday with a written statement: "Israel has never declared war on the Palestinians. Israel fights back against terror organizations in the framework of its right of self defense. He who started this war has the power to stop it, but continues to prefer a war of terrorism"