Palestinians Steadfast, Israelis Defiant; *Ereqat Describes Sharon's Call for a New International Mideast Conference 'A Waste of Time'; * Arafat Tells Powell Israel Must Withdraw Occupation Forces First; * Powell to Syria & Lebanon, Monday; __


JERUSALEM (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Secretary of State Colin Powel has extended his mideast peace mission to include Syria and Lebanon. The move proves once more that the Palestinian question cannot be settled in isolation of a comprehensive peace agreement. Powell went into Yasser Arafat's bullet-pocked headquarters and met Ariel Sharon on Sunday, but emerged reporting little headway in his quest for Middle East peace.

Powell urged the Israeli prime minister Sharon to withdraw troops from Palestinian areas, his spokesman said, and voiced "serious concerns" about conditions in the West Bank, especially Jenin, where a large refugee camp was in ruins, with many dead.

His talks with the Palestinian president Arafat failed to yield agreement on a cease-fire that the Palestinians say must start with Israel pulling its troops from Palestinian-controlled territory in the West Bank that it has reoccupied in a savage military assault since March 29.

Israeli troops began leaving the towns of Tulkarm and Qalqilya on Tuesday, but moved into six more villages on Saturday, despite U.S. appeals to pull out. The cities of Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus and Bethlehem remain under Israeli curfew, along with several refugee camps and villages.

REGIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE

Sharon said Powell had accepted his idea of a U.S.-hosted regional peace conference. A State Department official acknowledged that the two men had considered it. "But there's still more discussion necessary on both sides to see how it could be done, and where it would be set," the official said.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters the idea was a "waste of time" and no substitute for a peace plan floated by the Saudis and backed by last month's Arab summit.

PALESTINIANS DEMAND WITHDRAWAL

Erekat said Arafat would meet Powell's security demands if the United States forced an immediate Israeli withdrawal.
Israel has said it will end its offensive only after its occupation forces have completed sweeps for Resistance leaders.
The occupation army escorted reporters into the Jenin refugee camp for the first time on Sunday, three days after the last serious resistance ended and a day after a Reuters news team eluded tanks and found bodies in homes occupied by women and children

PREVIOUSLY UNSCHEDULED VISITS TO SYRIA & LEBANON

Attacks on Israeli targets by Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas have raised the specter of a wider conflict and prompted Powell to add Lebanon and Syria to his Middle East tour. The State Department in Washington has said Powell will be traveling to Beirut and Damascus Monday for discussions of another situation of urgent and serious concern -- firing across the U.N. line at Israel's northern border. Erekat said earlier that Powell would probably meet Arafat again on Tuesday.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L), seen in a picture handed out by his office, meets with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Arafat's Ramallah office April 14, 2002. Powell, scrambling to put his peace mission back on track, rescheduled a meeting with Arafat for today after the Palestinian leader met U.S. demands that he denounced terrorism. (Hussain Hussain/Reuter