(11:15) US ponders pulling out of Sinai force
By The Associated Press
The U.S. defense secretary told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month that the Bush administration wants to reduce American peacekeeping troops stationed in the Sinai Peninsula as part of a reassessment of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, a Sharon aide said today.
Sharon did not anticipate that the idea would be mentioned during his visit to Washington and gave no immediate response, the aide, Raanan Gissin, told The Associated Press.
Gissin said the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, proposed the reduction of forces to Sharon during their meeting in March. "This was part of the U.S. policy of trying to put a distance between themselves and the Middle East," Gissin said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Israel places great importance on the peacekeeping force, as well as on cooperation with Egypt and the United States.
The peacekeeping unit, the Multinational Force and Observers, was set up in 1982 after Israel withdrew from the Sinai as part of a peace agreement with Egypt. The force has 1,900 soldiers from 10 countries, including 865 Americans.
Gissin said he did not expect the United States would actually withdraw the troops. Such a decision would need approval from both Israel and Egypt.
Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that Rumsfeld and Sharon discussed the Sinai peacekeepers when the Israeli leader visited Washington in March. But Quigley said he didn't know details of the discussion.
In early April, Rumsfeld also discussed the possible withdrawal with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, The New York Times reported today.
Mubarak opposed the move, citing the Israeli and the Palestinian conflict and strained relations between Israel and Egypt.
The Times report said both Israel and Egypt would give their answers to the U.S. administration next month. Gissin said Sharon had not formulated an official response yet.
Before the presidential election, the Bush campaign said American troops in Sinai were among the U.S. peacekeeping operations that would be reviewed to determine whether they were putting too much strain on the military.
State Department officials were not informed of the proposal and the plan was not outlined in any of the preparatory diplomatic papers drawn up before the Rumsfeld-Sharon meeting, according to the Times.
Rumsfeld discussed the idea with U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, a State Department official told the newspaper, but it was not known whether Powell endorsed it.
