U.S. rejects Israeli protests

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The Bush administration yesterday brushed aside Israeli objections to planned U.S. meetings with the architects of the "Geneva initiative," an alternative Israeli-Palestinian peace plan launched in Switzerland this week.

"I am the American secretary of state. I have an obligation ... to listen to individuals who have interesting ideas," said Secretary of State Colin L. PowelI yesterday.

"[This] in no way undercuts our strong support for the state of Israel," Mr. Powell said.

Chief negotiators of the unofficial plan, former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, were to meet with State Department and National Security Council (NSC) officials today.

"I do not know why I or anyone else in the U.S. government should deny ourselves the opportunity to hear from others who are committed to peace and who have ideas," Mr. Powell told reporters while on a visit to Tunisia.

Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert yesterday had delivered unusually blunt criticism of the proposed meeting, telling Israeli press it would be an "incorrect decision."

"I have my doubts about [Mr. Powells] judgment on this affair," he said.

Mr. Powell's sharp response was the third time in recent weeks that Washington has distanced itself from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, reflecting the frustration that the Bush administration is experiencing dealing with the Sharon government.