On October 22nd the New York Times reported that the administration was "drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country".
Lebanon and Hizbullah said the draft offered no timetable for an Israeli troop withdrawal.
BEIJING, Sept. 30 — Talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program broke Sunday for a two-day recess so delegates could consult their governments on a draft plan and timetable to disable the North's nuclear facilities.
In its current form, they note, the timetable draft calls more clearly than before for a new constitution for the Palestinians, with separation of powers and possible installation of a prime minister as well as a president.
The American officials said this meant that virtually all the timetable drafting was now complete.
(Under the new timetable, drafting of the constitution is scheduled to take place in just about one month. Candidates would be required to start running for president before a new constitution had defined the job).
Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said today that the drafting of a timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state was being accompanied by actions leading to the goal of easing Mr. Arafat out.
Yet at the White House meeting today with Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, and other partners in the drafting of the timetable, Mr. Bush firmly declined to go along with their wish that the plan be published immediately.
They will coordinate the implementation of investments, the drafting of the timetable, development of the terminals and standardisation of regulations.
According to this timetable, the draft should by now already have been finished, a referendum on its content should be taking place in a fortnight's time and parliamentary elections should be planned for early February at the latest.
