Posted on 06/24/2002 1:34:43 PM PDT by SJackson
US President George W. Bush said tonight that a Palestinian state will not be possible until wide-ranging reforms are implemented in the Palestinian Authority.
Among the steps Bush called for were open democratic elections by the end of the year. He also termed as necessary the streamlining of the legislative structure and security authorities in the PA.
Bush did not mention PA Chairman Yasser Arafat by name, but clearly was referring to the Palestinian leader when he cited "official corruption" as an impediment to a peaceful solution.
"Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership so that a Palestinian state can be born," Bush said at the White House.
In his long-anticipated speech, Bush said "reform must be more than cosmetic changes or a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo" if the Palestinians are to fulfill their aspirations for a state alongside Israel.
Elections should be held by the end of the year for a legislature with normal authority and there also must be a constitution, Bush said as he set stiff conditions for a Palestinians state.
"When the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state, whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East," Bush said
Bush said the United States, European Union, World Bank and International Monetary Fund stand ready to help oversee reforms in Palestinian finances.
"And the United States, along with our partners in the developed world, will increase our humanitarian assistance to relieve Palestinian suffering," he pledged.
As Bush rolled out his Mideast peace blueprint, members of Congress and Palestinian leaders expressing doubts about its core goal - a provisional Palestinian statehood.
"A state is a state, and you cannot be provisionally pregnant, and you cannot have a provisional state," Palestinian Authority Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath said on CNN television's "Late Edition."
One administration official said Monday he believed Bush intended to deliver his speech later Monday. But a high-ranking White House official spread his arms in a shrug when asked about Bush's plan, saying the president had not communicated his intentions.
The officials cautioned that events in the Middle East could again force a change.
Bush told reporters traveling with him to New Jersey: "You'll hear when I'm ready."
Channel 1 TV said Bush was expected to reveal details of the policy initiative at 22:45 Israel time.
The thorniest issues - such as final borders, the control of Jerusalem and the return of refugees - would be left to negotiations between Israel and the provisional state.
Bush delayed an announcement last week after two suicide bombings in Jerusalem killed 26 Israelis and the Israeli army began seizing Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
Ahead of the official announcement, influential lawmakers and a PA official challenged the administration's proposal.
Shaath said his people would greet Bush's proposal for interim status "positively," but he was skeptical about its central provision.
"There is no such a thing as a provisional state," he said on "Fox News Sunday."
Still, Shaath said he was eager for the United States to lay out a peace plan soon. "The important thing is to have the United States involved with the international community because we cannot do it on our own with the Israelis. We need a third party, and there's no better than the Americans," he said.
(With The Associated Press)
Why CNN is in the tank where it belongs.
I wouldn't say theres no way. Assuming we're ruling out annexing a big chunk and leaving the Palistinians to their own devices, an Israeli occupation accompanied by many years of reeducation might result in a viable state.
My guess with elections in 6 months supervised by 10 or 20 thousand Marines (I don't ever want to see Americans on the ground there), the Hamas candidate wins, though an Arafat surrogate has a good chance. Arafat supervision, or "international" supervision (Carter is ready and waiting) I give the edge to Fatah.
A state under these conditions is completely in line the the Palestinian Phased Plan of 74, as a jumping off point for the final destruction of Israel.
WRONG ANSWER.
YOU LOSE!
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