Mitchell sees ‘war weariness’ as sign of hope in Middle East

RENO, Nev. – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s offer to seek a cease-fire with Israel is significant amid growing concerns Middle Eastern violence could erupt into a regionwide conflict, former Sen. George Mitchell said Thursday night.

Mitchell, former U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland now serving as an adviser to President Bush, also said he recognizes in the Middle East the same sort of “war weariness” that helped bring Irish factions to the negotiating table.

“I think there’s widespread recognition that the violence has reached unacceptable levels and there is a danger of the situation spiraling out of control and creating a regionwide conflict,” Mitchell said.

“The significance of these latest events is they reflect that sentiment among the people of the region and they may serve as a vehicle by which the parties can … end the violence, start to rebuild confidence and resume negotiations,” he told The Associated Press before a speech to students at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Mitchell, the former U.S. Senate majority leader from Maine, helped broker the peace accords in Northern Ireland in 1998. Last year, he chaired an international commission that offered a series of recommendations the Bush administration has adopted as a blueprint for steps to be taken toward peace in the Middle East.

A cease-fire “was the very first recommendation of the international commission,” Mitchell said Friday.

“It is a step forward. It remains to be seen whether there will be concrete steps to follow,” the Democrat said of Arafat’s pledge.

“We have to keep encouraging the parties to end the violence and persuade them that neither side will be able to achieve a military victory, and the only way to bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict is through negotiation,” he said.

Mitchell said there has been substantial progress in Northern Ireland since the “Good Friday” peace accords were reached Easter weekend of 1998.

“There has been a dramatic reduction in violence. A local government has been established and is functioning for the first time in more than a quarter-century and is growing commerce, and so far despite many setbacks, the process is working,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said he sees in the Middle East high levels of violence, “the emotion that results from the violence and the total mistrust and hatred, as was the case in Northern Ireland.”

“I believe there will be an end to the violence, the parties will return to the negotiating table and ultimately reach an accommodation primarily because I think the same phenomenon is going on that happened in northern Ireland,” he said in a speech to about 150 students Thursday.

An agreement was reached there “after 30 years of war and several failed efforts largely because people became sick of the conflict,” Mitchell said.

“It was impossible for anyone to lead a normal life. Random violence was high. Most of those killed and injured were innocent civilian bystanders. A general war weariness set in among the people. The same thing is now happening in the Middle East.”