US Middle East special envoy Dennis Ross said Sunday that the United States was seeking no more from the Middle East summit in Egypt than an end to the current bloodletting.
"Right now we are trying to stop the fighting. Right now we are trying to restore calm," he told Fox television.
"We want to see the violence brought to an end. You can't do anything unless you restore calm."
At the summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is expected to start Monday and include Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, US President Bill Clinton and Jordan's King Abdullah II.
More than 100 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed since bloody clashes erupted September 28 between Israeli forces and protesters in the Palestinian territories.
Ross declined to assign blame for the unrest, saying: "I think the position of our government is that there is a cycle of violence that has to be broken."
But the special envoy expressed Washington's unshakable commitment to Israel and said that Arafat had to "do more' to end the violence.
"There is no question that the Palestinians have to do more on their side to prevent the points of confrontation," he said.
"The kind of steps to bring it under control were not taken. They clearly have to do more."
On Arafat's commitment to peacemaking with Israel, Ross said the Palestinian leader had already shown he was capable of making difficult decisions unpopular with some Palestinians, including Hamas, the militant Islamic Resistance Movement.
"He has made big decisions in the past, but they are not as big as the ones he has to make. We will see if he is prepared to do that," Ross said – WASHINGTON (AFP)
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