Notebook From Senator Collins

My next one-on-on meeting was with Salam Fayyad, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.   Dr. Salam is the principal architect of a two-year program that has been credited with improving the lives of the Palestinian people through the building of schools, clinics, and businesses, as well as strengthening the security of Israel. He has also cracked down on official corruption.   We discussed the PA's unilateral appeal to the UN to grant recognition to a Palestinian State, a move that I strongly oppose. He seemed to concede that this approach was a mistake although he expressed frustration with the failures in the peace process.   I also expressed our government's deep concern with the Fatah party's alliance with the terrorist group Hamas. He agreed with the concern but maintained that support for Hamas has declined sharply among the population. Hamas has opposed Salam Fayyad continuing on as PM. Hamas's opposition to him doesn't surprise me as he seemed to be a moderate  committed to peace in the region.   We also had an interesting discussion of the role of both Iran and Turkey vying for influence in the region. PM Fayyad expressed his wish that both nations stay out of the region.