WASHINGTON, July 18: US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday named Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Faiad and Interior Minister Abdel-Razak al-Yehiyeh as Arafat appointees the United States could do business with.

“Those are two individuals that seem to be not only asserting authority and trying to work on the transformation, but seem to be acting with authority,” Powell told the Diane Rehm show on National Public Radio.

“So those are two that perhaps might start to fill the role that I think is badly needed to be filled,” he added.

Stuck with a policy of isolating Palestinian President Yasser Arafat but anxious to restructure Palestinian security forces and government finances, the Bush administration has decided to “empower” selected Palestinian ministers.

The approach is tantamount to pretending that Arafat does not exist at the head of the Palestinian Authority and that the subordinate officials are autonomous agents.

A senior State Department outlined the strategy in New York on Tuesday and Powell’s comments were the first high-level confirmation that the United States is trying it out.

President George Bush announced on June 24 a new US policy based on changing the Palestinian leadership and setting security for Israelis as the priority in its diplomacy.

But the campaign against Arafat has no support among Washington’s Arab and European partners in diplomacy.

Asked about the Arafat dispute, Powell said: “There is no specific plan with respect to Chairman Arafat. It’s up to the Palestinian people to decide that.”

“What we are anxious to do is to deal with other Palestinian leaders who can act with authority, with responsibility, with transparent action that we can see and who are empowered to act. If those individuals are empowered by the Palestinian community, we will work with them,” he added.

Powell noted that Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has already met the new Palestinian finance minister and is planning to see the new interior minister.

Arafat appointed the two ministers last month in a cabinet shuffle, partly in response to US demands for reform.

US officials have already contacted al-Yehiyeh and plan to deal with the security chiefs under him.

Powell acknowledged that Arafat appointed them, but added, “It’s not simply a question of ... standing back and doing nothing while we wait for a total change in leadership.”

“We are trying to identify those leaders who recognize that what they have been doing in the recent past has not moved them close to their vision of a Palestinian state,” he added.—Reuters