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After meetings with the Quartet, the Secretary of State and the President, the Arab ministers felt reassured on their main concern: the extent of the American commitment to the three-year timeline laid out loosely in the President's speech. Muasher noted that the President repeated five times in their 30-minute meeting that "we are serious" about the endgame coming in three years. The Secretary of State, according to Muasher, made clear that the clock had started on this three-year period as of June 24 (the date of the President's policy address). The Arab ministers also received a commitment from the Administration to develop a road map that will take the parties from today to the end of the three-year period in mid-2005.

Building a Road Map to Peace: In his view, Minister Muasher sees the period comprised of two phases: the first from now until the Palestinian elections (currently scheduled for January by the PA) and the second from the elections until mid-2005, when statehood is to be recognized.

In the first phase, the parties have not yet arrived at an agreed-upon work plan, but the Arab ministers do have ideas. They are working closely with the Palestinians on both security reform and political reform. The burden for these reforms is on the Palestinians and they are the ones that must do this work, with the support of the Arab states. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis have obligations in this phase. While the Palestinians must undertake security and political reforms, the Israelis must pay immediate attention to the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza. Once a new Palestinian constitution is in place and new security arrangements are in place, Israel must withdraw to its positions prior to September 28, 2000, in order to allow elections to proceed.

For the second phase, a road map still needs to be drawn up. The Arab ministers see such a road map as detailed, containing benchmarks, timelines and commitments from both sides, and an international monitoring board to ensure that these elements are successfully met. Muasher argued that a road map to take the parties from the elections to the endgame has to be developed and announced "today" so that the Palestinians can have hope for their state and the Israelis can have hope for their security. Muasher said that the Arab ministers received a "clear view of the US commitment to develop that road map. It is an effort that I believe will start immediately," he said.

Arafat's Role: The Arab ministers, in their meetings with the Administration, agreed to disagree with the United States on the question of Yasser Arafat's future. At the same time, they found a clear willingness on all sides not to allow that disagreement to hinder progress along the path outlined by the President. If the process agreed to is a good one, he said, then the question of whom to elect is less of an issue.

Muasher argued that Arafat's role is best left to the Palestinians to decide, saying that the Arab states were trying only to help the Palestinians to come up with a reform structure that the international community was comfortable with, but not to dictate that structure. The goal is to create plans that "give comfort" to the international community that the Palestinian state to be established will be democratic and responsible.

He emphasized that "we cannot choose other peoples' leaders," noting that there were those in the Arab world who wished that Ariel Sharon did not lead the Israeli government. Muasher declined repeatedly to speculate as to who might replace Arafat as a Palestinian leader or whether a prime minister might be appointed, arguing that naming names is counterproductive. He urged all sides to stop singling out individuals as potential Palestinian leaders, noting that anyone named by the Arab states or by the United States is thereby labeled as a puppet.

Administration Plans and Policy: Muasher related the President's declarations of his seriousness regarding a three-year timetable for resolving the conflict, and his expressed concern for the humanitarian situation in the territories. The President has not adopted the Arab position regarding simultaneous pursuit of security and political tracks, he said. Nonetheless, Muasher stated the ministers' belief that the Administration's commitment to the time frame is "solid. We believe the road is clear to us," he said, and that their work is also clearly laid out before them. "We are going to do this within an agreed framework, and that framework is agreed" upon by all the Quartet members, Muasher said. He also noted the President's statement that he will not let "these people" - i.e. suicide bombers - derail the process now underway.

According to Muasher, the President made it clear that he sees American responsibilities as well as Israeli, Palestinian and Arab responsibilities, and he intends to see those through. The President also brought up the question of settlements even before the Arab ministers could mention it, Muasher said. The president made it clear, Muasher related, that he thinks settlements "have to stop."

He argued that Arab diplomacy had made an impact on American policy, noting that five months ago the US government was only talking about implementing Tenet or maybe Mitchell, and not they are talking about a Palestinian state within three years. "We have made progress," he concluded. "Today, we have a very specific goal - a Palestinian state in three years - and a commitment to put together a road map toward that goal."

Muasher noted Secretary Powell's participation in the meeting with the President, and related that the President told the Arab ministers to "work things out" with Powell, who was his "point man" on the issue. "We have full trust in him," remarked Muasher.

End to Violence: "We understand that the starting point has to be an end to suicide bombings," Muasher said. He noted that it is obvious that whomever is behind the recent attacks does not want a political process to take shape, and does not want a peace process. Muasher confirmed that there is "work going on" among Palestinians to promote a cease-fire by all factions, "and let us see where this work will take us."

He said that the Arab states were "giving a lot of support" to the Palestinians' efforts to rebuild security structures. There is very serious work going on in the security arena, he related, in which the United States, Jordan, and Egypt are involved and which will put into place a structure that will be effective in stopping attacks. He said that CIA Director George Tenet would be sending CIA officials to the region to assist in rebuilding security structures on the ground.

While the Arab states could not provide a guarantee against new attacks, he said, they could guarantee 100% effort and a new structure that is needed to work against violence. He noted that security arrangements must be put into place so that Israel can begin to withdraw from the positions it holds in West Bank towns. "It is obvious that the Israelis cannot stay indefinitely in the West Bank and we are working to create the conditions under which they can withdraw as soon as possible," he said.

In response to a question regarding the Israeli security fence that is now being built in part of the West Bank, Muasher said, "I don't think this is the kind of message you want to send, of putting people in a cage." He noted that walls cannot stop those who wish to from carrying out attacks. "A wall is not going to solve that problem," he concluded.

The last three attacks against Israelis, Muasher said, remind us that even with Israel occupying the entire West Bank they cannot stop attacks. The only answer, he concluded, is cooperation with the Palestinians, Jordan, and Egypt. This is what the United States believes as well, he asserted. The Israeli concern, he said, is to have a security arrangement that is effective, and that, he said, is underway.

Palestinian elections: Muasher noted that the Arab ministers view the elections "as the culmination of a very important phase that starts with security and ends with a Palestinian government able to negotiate with Israel in the second phase."

Muasher reported that there was general agreement among the Quartet and the Arab ministers that Palestinian elections could not take place with Israeli forces inside Palestinian towns, and that all those parties agreed on the withdrawal line of September 28, 2000 (although he did not know whether Israel agreed to this line). Under current conditions, Muasher noted, people cannot move between towns and campaigning cannot take place. Thus, Israeli withdrawal will have to begin prior to the time of the elections themselves, in Muasher's view.

While there was no agreement between the Quartet and the Arab ministers on a firm target date for the elections, Muasher noted that the Arab states are working with the view that elections will be held in January. That is the intent of the Palestinian Authority, he noted, but suggested that even quicker elections were desirable if conditions made them possible.

Progress of Reform: Muasher related that the work already done by the PA in the areas of security reform and financial reform was seen as significant by the Quartet in their meetings, and emphasized that "important work has been done in these areas."

Arab diplomacy: Muasher argued that the diplomacy underway by the Arab ministers represented a new approach, one that began with the Arab initiative approved at the Arab League Summit in Beirut this spring. He underscored the landmark nature of the Arab initiative, with its commitment by every single Arab state, including Libya and Iraq, to an end to the conflict. It promises a "collective peace treaty" for Israel with every Arab state, a resolution to the refugee problem, everything, he said, that every Israeli citizen wants. He argued that the three-year period was therefore not just for the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict but for the Arab-Israeli conflict as well. It would provide, he said, the "best security guarantee we can give," a guarantee by all Arab states.

Now, he noted, Jordan, Egypt and the Saudi Arabia are moving even beyond the initiative, actively putting forward ideas and working to bridge gaps between the two parties, and they are doing this consistently and daily. The US Administration, he said, is making this new Arab role possible by not claiming, as others have done in the past, that it has a monopoly on ideas or on mediation. Moreover, he said, the Administration made it clear that the Arab initiative will not be ignored and is an important part of their strategy.

In particular, he noted, Syria is an important country that has to be brought into the process and that's why the Arab ministers emphasize that the three-year period should end the Arab-Israeli conflict as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Palestinian-Israeli piece should have priority right now, and Muasher related that "the Syrians have no problem with that," but at some point in the three-year period Syria and Lebanon would have to be brought in "so that we can complete that circle."

Coordination Between the Arab States and the PA: Muasher emphasized that the Arab ministers' activism was not meant to supplant or speak for the Palestinians in dealings with the international community. "We are being consulted by the Quartet," he said, and we were invited by the Quartet to these meetings. The ministers are presenting ideas that might help the process move forward. The Palestinians urged them to come, he said, presented them with ideas to bring with them. "We are here with their full support," he concluded.

Provisional Statehood: Muasher noted that "we have a big problem with the words 'provisional state'" because it implies a statehood that is temporary and could be revoked. The Arab ministers emphasized to the Quartet the need to speak of a state with provisional borders, not a provisional state. Muasher said that there was agreement on this point from everyone in the Quartet, including the United States.