Powell Gets Cool Reception

CASABLANCA, Morocco — In an ominous reflection of growing Arab anger at the United States, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was greeted on the first leg of his high-stakes Mideast mission Monday with a testy challenge about the Bush administration’s priorities and new demands before the Arab world will aid the peace effort.

Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Powell bluntly Monday that the kingdom and other Arab nations are prepared to intervene only if there is a complete Israeli withdrawal from all reoccupied territory, U.S. monitors are deployed and commitments are made to rebuild Palestinian institutions, a senior Arab official told reporters here Monday.

“Within that environment, it’s more realistic to have a political process in which people can cooperate,” the official said.

The crown prince warned that the United States is in danger from the political spillover.

“U.S. interests in the region are suffering gravely, and U.S. credibility and prestige are collapsing quickly,” Adel al-Jubeir, the senior foreign policy advisor to the crown prince, told reporters traveling with Powell. “America must restrain” Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he said.

The U.S. will face harm, said the official. “The war on terrorism will go no place without the . . . Arab countries.”

Saudi Arabia feels especially betrayed by the lack of progress in talks after it helped craft an Arab League peace initiative two weeks ago. In a statement earlier Monday, the crown prince said the hand that was extended sincerely in peace is the same hand that will do whatever is necessary to protect the interests of the Arab community.

The tension between the United States and the Arab world was reflected earlier in the day when Powell met Moroccan King Mohammed VI. “Don’t you think it was more important to go to Jerusalem first?” the monarch bluntly asked Powell as cameras rolled--a conspicuously deliberate act--as they began talks in the southern resort city of Agadir.

Powell Put on Defensive

The meeting came a day after Morocco witnessed the largest demonstration in its modern history--and the biggest in the Arab world since the current crisis began, according to both U.S. and Moroccan officials. At least half a million Moroccans--most local estimates of the crowd put it at 2 million--poured onto the streets of Rabat, the capital, to protest U.S. and Israeli policies.

The depth of feeling was reflected in the king’s cancellation of his national wedding celebration because of the Israeli siege. During his talks with Powell, the king wore a large button on his lapel with a picture of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, one of the holiest Muslim shrines.

Powell came to Morocco, one of the more moderate Arab countries, to appeal for help in persuading Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to rein in militants and end violence. But in talks with both the crown prince and the king, he found the agenda distinctly shaped by Arab rage--and the United States on the defensive.

Morocco “adamantly denounced” the Israeli siege and called on the United States to “spare no effort” to achieve an immediate and full withdrawal so that Arafat can “regain his liberty,” the palace said in a statement.

After their talks, Powell conceded that the Israeli operation has triggered “significant and severe” consequences that threaten to destabilize the region.

“We hope that Prime Minister Sharon and his colleagues are taking all of this into account as the president asked them to when the operations began 10 or 11 days ago. It is time for them to begin withdrawal and do it as the president has indicated--now,” Powell said.

After talks with Abdullah in Casablanca, Powell welcomed the announcement of an Israeli withdrawal from two West Bank towns as an encouraging sign. But he cautioned that the United States would wait to see what the withdrawal means and how far it goes. The United States has not seen Israel’s plans, he added.

“Let us hope that this is not a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but the beginning of a pullback,” he said after a dinner meeting with Abdullah. “Everybody would like to see a complete withdrawal.”

Abdullah, who crafted the Arab League offer to Israel of full recognition in exchange for withdrawal from all territories occupied in the 1967 Middle East War, has become a key player in the crisis. The United States hopes to use the offer as an incentive to Israel to get the peace process back on track.

With both Arab leaders, Powell defended U.S. strategy in attempting to rally Arab support with his stops in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan this week. He will also meet with European counterparts in Madrid to try to rally the international community behind a common position.

Mounting Arab anger is also producing a tough new line about the sequence of actions required to end the latest Mideast crisis. Hassan Aourid, spokesman for King Mohammed, said the Arab world now insists that Israel initiate an end to the crisis by completely pulling out of Palestinian areas.

“It’s important for Israel to take the first step to withdraw and spare the lives of the Palestinian people,” he told reporters traveling with Powell in Agadir.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher echoed Morocco’s warning. “The early litmus test is U.S. ability to effect a withdrawal soon. If it doesn’t do that, then Israel will have killed Powell’s visit before it starts. How can the U.S. pressure anyone when it cannot effect a withdrawal by Israel? U.S. credibility is on the line here,” he said in an interview with The Times.

The Arab world is also taking an increasingly tough line on Powell’s meeting Arafat, which now looks more and more likely. The Moroccan king and the Saudi prince insisted that Arafat’s participation is critical to Arab acceptance of the U.S. initiative.