Posted on 03/27/2002 8:41:49 AM PST by RCW2001
BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/03/27/national1115EST0603.DTL
(03-27) 09:36 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
U.S.-supervised truce talks between Israel and the Palestinians are making good progress, President Bush said Wednesday.
As the administration's hopes for Arab endorsement of a Saudi peace proposal dwindled, Bush said the talks that Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni is conducting aimed at ending the violence "are making very good progress. That's where the focus of this administration is."
"I believe -- I know -- we're making progress," Bush said during a visit to Greenville, S.C. "Whether or not we're able to sign an accord soon or not remains to be seen."
He said there is a chance for an agreement on security arrangements, which could lay the groundwork for a resumption of peace talks.
Meanwhile, as Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was outlining his government's Mideast peace proposals at an Arab summit meeting in Beirut, administration officials disclosed that Abdullah will meet with Bush at his Texas ranch during the last week in April.
The invitation was extended by Vice President Cheney during his visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
The White House described Abdullah's speech in Beirut as significant.
"We believe it is a positive step forward toward bringing peace to the region, said spokeswoman Claire Buchan. "The president commends his leadership and he urges other leaders to build on the crown prince's ideas to address the cause of peace in the troubled region."
Abdullah proposed that the Arab world offer Israel "normal relations" and security in exchange for full withdrawal from Arab lands held since 1967, establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and a right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat welcomed Abdullah's initiative and urged Arab leaders to endorse it. But Israel was cool to the overture, saying the offer of "normal relations" was too vague and rejecting the refugee's right of return.
In the meantime, U.S. diplomacy was dealt a series of setbacks Tuesday.
Despite a plea by Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said "conditions are not ripe" to permit Arafat to attend the Arab summit.
Sharon insisted the Palestinian leader call a cease-fire first. Additionally, he said, Arafat could not go unless the American administration backed any Israeli decision to bar Arafat from returning if violence occurred during the Palestinian's absence.
A few hours later, Arafat announced his decision not to go to Beirut.
The U.S. hope had been that Arab leaders, with Arafat present, would approve Abdullah's overture.
After the setbacks, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer avoided criticism of Sharon or Arafat. He said Bush "continues to believe that it's better if the Beirut summit focuses on peace and not attendance."
Arafat's absence would not foreclose the leaders taking that step anyway. Preliminary soundings from Beirut, however, indicated scant interest in offering peace to Israel.
Hassan Abdel Rahman, the ranking Palestinian official in the United States, said Sharon's terms were "humiliating and extortionate, and no Palestinian will acquiesce in those conditions, which are illegal and immoral."
Abdel Rahman, interviewed by The Associated Press, also criticized the Bush administration. "There is a sense of disappointment with the United States. There is a feeling they did not try hard" to persuade Sharon, Abdel Rahman said.
Presented Sharon's conditions, the White House concentrated on urging Arab leaders to back the Saudi peace offer, with or without the Palestinian leader on hand.
Described as a vision by both Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration, Crown Prince Abdullah's proposal would have Arab countries recognize Israel. In return, Israel would relinquish all land the Arabs lost in the 1967 Six-Day War, accept a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem and consider letting hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees settle in Israel.
Fleischer avoided direct criticism of Sharon for refusing to give in to the U.S. pressure. The spokesman said Bush feels that "we're dealing with a sovereign government. Governments have the right to make determinations."
©2002 Associated Press
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