Statesmen hail Bush Mideast push, media sceptical

By Patrick Worsnip LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Statesmen around the world welcomed on Friday U.S. President George W. Bush's bid to halt Israeli-Palestinian violence, but many media commentators said it was too little too late. While some European newspapers gave Bush marks for trying, Arab editorialists focused heavily on his invective against the Palestinian leadership and some even suggested Bush had given Israel a licence to kill Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Bush urged Israel on Thursday to end its military assault on Palestinian areas and pull back, and ordered Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region to revive ceasefire talks. But he also said Arafat's situation was "largely of his own making" because he had failed to stop Palestinian suicide bombings. French President Jacques Chirac, telephoned by British Prime Minister Tony Blair who was flying to meet Bush on Friday, referred to the "vital and long-awaited re-engagement of the United States" in the Middle East, a Chirac spokeswoman said. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said his government "emphatically welcomes" the U.S. initiative. "It is an important signal of hope for a de-escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians and a return to efforts to find a political resolution," he said in a statement. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who on Thursday accused the Israeli government of "genocide" against Palestinians, on Friday called Bush's statement very important. "The conflict which has escalated can only be ended with the intervention of the U.S. government," Ecevit told a news conference in Ankara with visiting Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who echoed that view. The European Union, humiliated by Israel in its own diplomatic bid for a ceasefire, also welcomed the re-engagement of the United States in high-level Middle East peacemaking. European Commission President Romano Prodi, who earlier this week described U.S. mediation efforts as a failure, applauded Bush's statements and his decision to send Powell to the region. "I warmly welcome the statement of President Bush. It is an expression of determination and leadership," Prodi said in a statement issued only hours after two senior EU envoys returned home from a Middle East ceasefire mission empty-handed. Arab leaders were slower to comment but Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told reporters in Cairo Bush's speech "means a positive trend in the U.S. position". "It...contained clear statements about a real Palestinian state and a withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, the freezing of settlements, and an end to insulting the Palestinians, as well as support for the Arab (peace) initiative," he said.

"DESPERATE ATTEMPT" Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb said direct U.S. intervention was "a positive step to end the serious crisis plaguing the region". Syrian officials declined comment on Bush's demand that Damascus support America's war on terrorism by reining in the Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas whom Damascus backs. Some European media were cautiously hopeful the U.S. initiative might bear fruit. "Late, but hopefully not too late, Washington is starting to negotiate. Now is the hour of the Americans," said an editorial in Germany's best-selling Bild newspaper. "Bush's call should -- one dearly likes to believe -- mark the end to the waiting game, indeed indifference that has been irresponsible in the head of the world's leading power," commented France's left-leaning daily Liberation. But others were scathing. "Pushed in a corner by Europe, the Pope and the increasingly harsh criticism of the 'liberal' press in the United States against his inertia that verged on complicity, George Bush has finally spoken out," wrote Italy's la Repubblica in a front page editorial. "But both the European and the U.S. gestures came too late and are unlikely to have a decisive impact on the tragic situation." Britain's conservative Daily Telegraph said "Israel need have no fear that its closest ally is growing cold... "Mr Bush's statement and the dispatch of his Secretary of State do mark heightened American involvement in the conflict. But as yet they do not fundamentally differ from the lower-level efforts of Anthony Zinni, the President's special envoy." Another British paper, the left-leaning Guardian, said Powell was "wandering onto a diplomatic minefield with only the most unreliable of maps". Comment was still harsher in the Arab world. The Gulf News of the United Arab Emirates called Bush's move a "desperate, yet pathetic, attempt to restart peace initiatives...it does not look promising". "So besotted is Bush with his fight against world terrorism that he will not accept the justifiable claims of Palestinians for the land they once occupied," it said. "Such dogmatic thinking is dangerous in anyone -- by the leader of the world's sole superpower, it is frightening." Tunisia's Le Temps newspaper said Bush "understands nothing in the Palestinian problem". Egypt's opposition al-Ahrar newspaper ran as its main headline: "Bush gives Sharon the go-ahead to get rid of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority".

Well, well, well. Leaders from around the world praising the US and President Bush for taking the lead.

My, how far we've come in a year.

I remember how they were all dissing Bush on his first European trip when he was taking the lead by rejecting Kyoto.

George W Bush hasn't grown in office. He's always been there. It seems the rest of the world may be finally recognizing it.

Bush urged Israel on Thursday to end its military assault on Palestinian areas and pull back

When is Bush going to develop a consistent policy on the Middle East and terrorism? "Go ahead, Ariel. Now stop, Ariel. You can defend yourself, Ariel. No, you can't defend yourself, Ariel."

ARGH!

Bush needs to realize the terrorists Israel is fighting are not our friends, and would love to see our destruction. Who was it dancing in the streets on September 11?

Has anyone noticed how many photos we have to endure of Yassar Arafat, while none are forthcoming of Ariel Sharon? More media BIAS...I want to throw things everytime I SEE that TERRORIST's face on my TV!

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