WEST BANK: MADELEINE ALBRIGHT ADDRESSES STUDENTS AT SCHOOL
(12 Sep 1997) Natural Sound Wrapping up the main part of her Middle East mission on Friday, U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright addressed students at a West Bank school. During her three days in the region, Albright has demanded the Palestinians fight against terrorism and has urged Israel to halt construction in areas claimed by the Palestinians. But she's admitted there's still a long way to go. Albright's first trip to the Middle East as Secretary of State has proved frustrating so far. After her Thursday meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu she said there was a long way to go restore trust and reopen negotiations. On Friday she sought a younger audience, visiting the Friends School, an American-run Quakers' high school in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Sitting in a circle with 28 juniors and seniors, Albright fielded questions about U-S Mideast policy. Students wanted to know why the U-S wasn't pushing Israel harder to observe the peace agreements already signed. They also wanted to know why more wasn't being done to lift a sweeping travel ban imposed on the Palestinian areas after two recent suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Albright said the U-S could not impose a peace settlement on the two sides. She reiterated that the Palestinians must fight terrorism and that Israel should take 'time out' from Jewish settlement construction. The students described life under Israeli closure, which confines Palestinians to their communities and bars them from entering Israel. The travel ban has been in effect since a July 30 suicide bombing, and was tightened again after a September 4 attack by Islamic militants in a Jerusalem pedestrian mall. Next stop for the U-S Secretary of State is Syria, where she will attempt to restart Israeli-Syrian peace talks after a one-and-half-year freeze. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
