A14 The World


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Netanyahu, Abbas ‘mean business,’U.S. envoy says Mitchell gives


upbeat assessment of Mideast talks


BY GLENN KESSLER


jerusalem — Israeli and Pales- tinian leaders are delving very quickly into some of the most difficult issues dividing them, the U.S. special envoy to the region said in an unusually upbeat re- port Wednesday, even as Israeli fighters bombed a smuggling tunnel and Palestinian militants launched mortar rounds into southern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Bin-


yamin Netanyahu greeted Pales- tinian Authority President Mah- moud Abbas at his Jerusalem residence, with a Palestinian flag as a backdrop, for two hours of talks that also included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. special envoy George J. Mitchell. The two leaders had met in Egypt for more than two hours Tuesday, also accompanied by Clinton andMitchell. “They are serious, they mean


business,”Mitchell told reporters afterward. “Iwill say that the two leaders are not leaving the tough issues


AMOS BEN GERSHOM/ISRAELI GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Israeli President Shimon Peres with Secretary of State Clinton in Jerusalem. Clinton also took part in talks between Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority’sMahmoud Abbas.


to the end of their discussions,” he said. “We take this as a strong indicator of their belief that peace is possible.” The talks have been greeted


with deep skepticism in Israel and the Arab world, with few appearing to think that the two sides can reach an agreement


that can be implemented, espe- cially with the militant group Hamas


controlling the


Gaza Strip, where 40 percent of Palestinians in the territories live. The talks also face a looming


crisiswith the Sept. 26 expiration of a partial moratorium on Jew-


ish settlement construction. Palestinian officials insist they


will walk out of the talks if settlement construction begins anew, andMitchell refused to say Wednesday whether the United Stateswas confident thePalestin- ians would keep talking. “That subject was discussed this eve- ning. We continue in our efforts to make progress in that regard and believe thatwe are doing so,” he said. Mitchell noted that talking


about delicate issues — which could include borders, security, the status of Jerusalem and the right of Palestinians to return to their homes — was not the same thing as negotiating solutions. But he positively compared the experience of the past two days to his work as peace envoy in the Northern Ireland conflict. Then, he said, it wasmonths before the difficult topics were addressed. In the current talks, he said, “it has been literally days.” The Obama administration is


pressing for the peace talks to be concludedwithin a year.Officials are also seeking a comprehensive peace between Israel and its oth- er Arab neighbors, and Mitchell will travel Thursday to Syria and Lebanon for talks. Netanyahu had been cool to talks with Da-


THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010


Afghanistan war deaths Total number of U.S. military


mascus, but there are signs that Syria and Israel are inching to- ward discussions, including vir- tual silence from the Syrian gov- ernment about the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks. “We do not believe that pro-


ceeding on both tracks ismutual- ly exclusive,” Mitchell said. “To the contrary, we believe they can be complementary and mutually beneficial.” Abbas had come close to a deal


with Netanyahu’s predecessor, Ehud Olmert, but this was his first visit to the prime minister’s residence since Netanyahu took power 18 months ago. The visit represents a calculated risk that Palestinians will not view him as weak fornot insisting onmeeting on neutral ground. Also Wednesday, the Israeli


military said it had struck a Hamas-operated tunnel on the borderwith Egypt, asserting that it was used in attacks against Israelis. Localmedia reports said one


Palestinian


was killed. Themilitary also said one Qassam rocket and eight mortar shells had hit southern Israel, the largest number of projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip in a single day sinceMarch 2009.


kesslerg@washpost.com Obama tomeetwith Sudan leaders in effort to save peace plan


Upcoming vote on independence could renew fighting


BY MARY BETH SHERIDAN The Obama administration,


worried that an upcoming refer- endum in Sudan could lead to renewedbloodshed, hasbegunan urgent diplomatic effort to rescue the American-backed peace plan there. President Obama will meet


with two of Sudan’s leaders next weekat theUnitedNations, in the first such contact of his presiden- cy.The Sept. 24sessioncomesless than four months before a refer- endum on independence for southern Sudan. U.S. officials are pressing the


country’s Islamist government to step up preparations for the vote. Those preparations have been running well behind schedule, and many fear that a botched election could lead to a resump- tion of the 21-year conflict. Sudanese advocacy groups, which have assailed Obama for a


Britons offer a hesitant welcome to Benedict


pope from A1


pulled out of the trip after a Ger- manmagazine quotedhimas say- ing that landing at London’s Heathrow Airport was like arriv- ing ina “thirdworldcountry” and that Britain is plagued by a “new and aggressive atheism.” Official- ly, the Vatican said Kasper with- drew from the trip because of a flare-up of gout. For Benedict, his British trip


marks a broader campaign to raise the profile of religion in increasingly secular Europe, as well as to ease outrage over the string of sex abuse scandals in- volving Catholic priests that con- tinue to rock the region from Ireland to Austria. He also ap- pears to be doing something his critics have said he has thus far been reluctant to do: mend fenc- es.


In what is set to be a historic


highlight of the trip,Benedictwill pray with the archbishop of Can- terbury, the symbolic head of the Anglican Communion, at West- minsterAbbey on Friday.On Sun- day, he goes to Birmingham to beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, who began his calling as an Anglican before being or- dained to the Catholic priesthood inRome in 1847. The Vatican is dismissing the


planned protests. “It is not sur- prising because these [protests] have happened before,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters in Rome thisweek.But, he added, in Britain, the issue of protests is “a broader one because in the Unit- ed Kingdom there are atheist groups, some of them anti-papal in nature, but also this forms part of a plural society like the British one.”


lack of actiononakeythemefrom his presidential campaign, wel- comed the news. “This is one of those every- once-in-a-while opportunities to influence a situation that is fast deteriorating,” said John Pren- dergast, co-founder of the Enough project, an anti-genocide group. The Sudan meeting will be led


by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. U.S. officials have been urging senior representatives of other countries to attend, to show unified support for the peace plan. To get ready for the talks, the


Obama administration has been holding daily inter-agency meet- ings for the past two weeks. Se- nior officials — including Secre- tary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and national security ad- viser James L. Jones—have called Sudanese leaders to press for progress. Last week, special envoy Scott


Gration traveled to Sudan to lay out a package of incentives and penalties aimed at pushing the government in Khartoum to sup- port the Jan. 9 vote. “We are sending a very clear


message to Khartoum, the Suda- nesegovernmentandthe interna- tional community that we are paying attentionandwearegoing to roll up our sleeves and do everything we can to make sure this referendum goes off without a hitch,” Obama told Sirius XM Radio on Tuesday. The 2005 peace accord was one


of PresidentGeorgeW. Bush’s top foreign-policy accomplishments. It created a five-year period of autonomy for the Christian and animist south, followed by the referendum. Polls indicate that the southerners, most of whom are black and complain of dis- crimination by the Arab north, will choose independence. Southern Sudanese officials


say that the national government, led by Gen. Omar al-Bashir, has been dragging its feet on referen- dum preparations. The north stands to lose one-third of its land and80percent of its oil reserves if the south breaks away. Gration told reporters that


Obama’s attendance at the U.N. meeting “will elevate Sudan on the world stage and make the international community pay a little bit more attention to what is


happening.” Under its incentives package,


the Obama administration is of- fering to allow increased invest- ment in Sudan if the referendum is peaceful and credible. If the north and south reach agreement on post-referendum issues, the administration will upgrade diplomatic relations by sending an ambassador to Khar- toum, officials said. Finally, if the peace accord is


fulfilled and a separate conflict in the Darfur area is resolved, the administration will work to re- move restrictions on foreign in- vestment and lift economic sanc- tions, officials said. If Sudan’s government does


not make progress, though, it could face added sanctions, offi- cials said. Bashir and other senior offi-


cials have been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes in connection with the conflict in Darfur, where at least 300,000 people have died as a result of fighting or disease. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the


chief prosecutor of the court, is visiting Washington this week to


urge officials to press the Darfur issue at the U.N. meeting next week. In particular, he wants Obama


to insist on the arrest of Ahmad Harun, the governor of Southern Kordofan, which is near the con- tested north-south border. “Bashir is showing he can defy


international will by appointing Harun to a big role,” despite the official’s indictment on charges of crimes against humanity, More- no-Ocampo said. “We need President Obama’s


leadership and the political will of the rest” of the international community to have him removed fromthe jobanddetained,hesaid in an interview. A White House official said


that the issue of accountability for the devastation in Darfur will be on the agenda, but that the Harun case probably will not be discussed during the hour-long meeting. “Our priority right now is liter-


ally moving ballots, voter eligibil- ity” and other election issues, the official said, speaking on the con- dition of anonymity to be frank about the meeting. sheridanm@washpost.com


deaths since 2001 and names of the U.S. troops killed recently in the Afghanistan war, as announced by the Pentagon:


1,268 Fatalities


In hostile actions:


970


In non- hostile actions:


298


Tallies may be incomplete because of lags in reporting.


l Pfc. Justin B. Shoecraft, 28, of Elkhart, Ind.; 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, based in Vilseck, Germany. Killed Aug. 24 in Uruzgan province.


l Pfc. Chad D. Coleman, 20, of Moreland, Ga.


l Pvt. Adam J. Novak, 20, of Prairie du Sac, Wis. The two soldiers were assigned to 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky. They were killed Aug. 27 in Paktia province.


l Master Sgt. Daniel L. Fedder, 34, of Pine City, Minn.; 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Aug. 27 in Helmand province.


l Petty Officer 3rd Class James M. Swink, 20, of Yucca Valley, Calif.; Navy hospital corpsman assigned to 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Killed Aug. 27 in Helmand province.


l Spec. Andrew J. Castro, 20, of Westlake Village, Calif.; 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky.


l Sgt. Patrick K. Durham, 24, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky. The two soldiers were killed Aug. 28 in Babur.


l Spec. James C. Robinson, 27, of Lebanon, Ohio; 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky. Killed Aug. 28 in Paktika province.


l Gunnery Sgt. Floyd E.C. Holley, 36, of Casselberry, Fla.; 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Aug. 29 in Helmand province.


l Staff Sgt. James R. Ide, 32, of Festus, Mo.; 230th Military Police Company, 95th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, based in Sembach, Germany. Killed Aug. 29 in Hyderabad, Helmand province.


l Pfc. Bryn T. Raver, 20, of Harrison, Ark.; 1st Brigade Special Troop Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky.


l Capt. Ellery R. Wallace, 33, of Salt Lake City; 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky. The two soldiers died Aug. 29 in Nangahar province of wounds suffered on Aug. 28.


l Pfc. Chad D. Clements, 26, of Huntington, Ind.


l Staff Sgt. Jesse Infante, 30, of Cypress, Tex.


l Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32, of Canton, Ohio.


l Capt. Dale A. Goetz, 43, of White, S.D.


l Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, 36, of Conover, Wis. Clements, Infante and Kessler were assigned to 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Goetz was assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. West was assigned to 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group. All units were based at Fort Carson, Colo. The five soldiers were killed Aug. 30 in Kandahar province.


All troops were killed in action in Afghanistan unless otherwise indicated.


DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS


Posters hang outside St.Mary’sMetropolitan Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s four-day state visit to Britain. The fact that British taxpayers


are helping pay for the visit has clouded the issue, said Declan McCarthy, 31, aCatholicwho lives in London. “The pope is the pope, andwhathedoes is visit countries where there are Catholics,” he said, adding that is especially im- portant in countries where they are aminority. Benedict, however, appears to


be facing an uphill battle to re- store the church’s battered image in Britain and beyond. Thisweek, for instance, the Catholic Church in Belgium is being taken to task again for itsweak response to sex


abuse allegations, and a fresh re- port surfaced in Britain showing that half of the Catholic clergy jailed for pedophilia remain in the priesthood, with many still receiving financial support. Though many of the faithful


have flown in from Ireland and points farther afield for the papal visit, observers say Benedict is unlikely to enjoy the same out- pouring of affection that Pope John Paul II received in 1982. Though that trip — the first ever by a pope to Britain—lacked the full pomp of an official state visit, huge numbers, nevertheless,


turned out to greet that very pop- ular pope. He earned kudos de- spite his denunciation of the then-raging Falkland Islands war withArgentina. This time, organizers are al-


ready scaling back turnout esti- mates for Benedict, who has be- come a lighting rod among social liberals because of his strict con- servative line. With only a few hours to go before he lands, none of his major public events — in- cluding the Hyde Park Mass — appeared set to fill to capacity. Onepollconductedfor theGuard- ian showed that only 14 percent


strongly backed the pope’s visit, with a majority of 57 percent an- gered over the cost of the trip. “We are not anti-Catholic, just


anti-Benedict,” said Terry Sander- son, president of the National Secular Society, one of the groups leading the protests this week in London. “Even polls among Brit- ain’s 6 million Catholics show they do not support his stance on contraceptives or homosexuality. This pope is quite clearly out of step, and there are a lot of people in Britain who have a beef with him.”


faiolaa@washpost.com


Total fatalities include two civilian employees of the Defense Department. They also include service members killed in other locations involved in Operation Enduring Freedom, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Pakistan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; Uzbekistan; and Yemen.


A full list of casualties is available online at6washingtonpost.com/nation.


SOURCE: Defense Department’s www.defenselink.mil/news


THE WASHINGTON POST


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