AL QUDS: A new US peace drive will not bring a quick end to 14 months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed, analysts said as violence flared on the eve of the mission.

Israelis and Palestinians focused on the arrival on Monday of former US Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns after fresh tit-for-tat violence killed eight Palestinians and one Israeli.

Global pressure for US mediation in the violent conflict and a desire to cement Arab support for its anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan led the United States to launch its latest peace mission.

But bloodshed threatened to complicate the most intensive effort so far by the Bush administration to mediate the Middle East conflict, a drive put on shakier ground after Israel killed a top member of the militant Hamas group on Friday.

Palestinian political analyst Khalil Shikaki said that the United States was still ignoring two major problems: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s inability to enforce a ceasefire and Israel’s view of the Palestinian leader as a terrorist.

Shikaki said that it appeared the United States was more interested in responding to “the needs of the war on terror rather than the Israeli-Palestinian needs”.

Just 24 hours before the US envoys were due to launch talks, Israel continued to insist that Arafat uphold a truce before renewing peace negotiations.

Shikaki said the prospect of peace was key to Arafat’s ability to sell a ceasefire to the Palestinian people after more than a year of bloodshed and economic hardship.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Israeli “assassination” of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud and its missile strikes in Gaza on Sunday — which followed a mortar bomb attack that killed a soldier — were meant to sabotage US efforts.

“I cannot forecast whether these efforts will succeed because (Israeli prime minister Ariel) Sharon is trying to drown these efforts in a sea of blood,” Abed Rabbo said.

“There needs to be a clear American message to Sharon — “stop your crimes”. There is no other alternative,” he told reporters.

Zinni, an unknown to Israelis and Palestinians, has been thrown into the minefield of regional diplomacy.

Well-known in the Arab world as former commander-in-chief of a US military region that covers several Gulf countries, Zinni has no experience with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one that has stymied more-seasoned diplomats.

The liberal Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz published a cartoon of the retired four-star general taking his first step towards resolving the conflict, his foot just above a pile of dog turd.

The Israeli media have labelled Zinni, experienced in dealing with Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, an “Arabist” and expressed reservations about his neutrality.

But Eran Lerman, an Israeli security expert with close ties to the political and defence establishment, said government officials were not concerned about any possible pro-Arab tilt.

“A number of Israelis have met him over the years including recently,” Lerman said. “Those who know him are very impressed...people say he is a quick study, quick to learn the realities of a new situation.”

Shikaki said Zinni’s ties to the Arab world are no comfort to Palestinians.

“They actually create certain suspicions that he might be here to satisfy some Arabs and Muslims and not the actual Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” Shikaki said.

Shikaki said that by choosing an unknown, the United States showed it was only interested in calming the violence and not in resolving the 53-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“He (Zinni) needs to spend a lot of time educating himself about the problems. Even if he is to succeed it’s going to take a lot of time before he can get things back on track,” he said.

A senior Israeli political official said Zinni would be judged on the actions he takes to mediate the conflict and not on his past statements and relationships.

“He’s quite unfamiliar with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the official said. “He’s a professional soldier, a diplomat...with a lot of experience and I’m sure that he’ll give it his best shot.”

Lerman said Israel has learned not to censure envoys before they begin working, noting Israel had an excellent relationship with former US Secretary of State George Shultz despite initial apprehensions over his business ties to Saudi Arabia.

“I think he’s (Zinni’s) a professional. I think his mission is focused on a ceasefire. I think he understands the need to go very slowly,” Lerman said. “This is going to be a long and incremental process.”—Reuters