Bush & Blair at war over Arafat

Peace process tensions ... PM Tony Blair looking increasingly edgy next to President Bush yesterday

By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON
Deputy Political Editor, in CalgaryTONY Blair and George Bush had their first public row yesterday as they tussled in a gym over the Middle East conflict. The PM refused to support President Bush’s call for Yasser Arafat to be toppled.

They slugged it out for 30 minutes on running machines alone in a hotel gym at the G8 summit of world leaders in Canada.

They then confirmed the rift as they sat side by side on live television with the President insisting: “I meant what I said. Something has to happen. There needs to be new institutions, constitution, and there needs to be elections.

But Mr Blair stood firm. And as the news conference grew more tense, he insisted: It is for the Palestinians to choose the people they elect. It is not a question of saying we are going to tell people who they will elect or not. That is for them to do.

The pair noticeably stood apart when they lined up to have their picture taken with other leaders. Downing Street last night admitted the gym talks were “frank and open. It added: Both sides were completely uninhibited.

Until now the PM and the president prided themselves on their common views on world security. But yesterday their differences over Palestinian leader Arafat burst into the public eye for the first time.

Tensions were increased when Arafat announced he will defy the US and stand for re-election in a January election. Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat unveiled the elections plan in the West Bank city of Jericho.

He also revealed that security services would be unified and the Palestinian Authority’s finances and courts would be overhauled under a 100-day plan. Downing Street declared Britain will continue to deal with Arafat if he is returned to power.

The leaders had bumped into each other at a gym in a remote luxury hide away in the Rocky Mountains at 7am yesterday. Mr Blair put down his weights and the pair took to adjoining treadmills and thrashed out their differences, watched by guards. After showering, they resumed their argument during a 45-minute official meeting. Last night there were fresh tensions when the President shrugged off Britain's pledge of lbillion-a-year aid to Africa. In front of Mr Blair, he told the audience: All of us are doing as much as we possibly can in aid terms. I don't think this is a competition.

TANKS kept Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat holed up in his compound in Ramallah yesterday. Israeli troops have surrounded Arafat’s HQ since Monday as part of an offensive which has seen soldiers re-occupy seven West Bank towns and cities.

In Jenin, Palestinian officials claimed troops shot dead a seven-year-old boy as they enforced a curfew. Israeli military chiefs had no comment on the report, which came as they kept hundreds of thousands of Palestinians locked up in their homes. The crackdown comes after suicide bombings killed 26 Israelis.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but The Sun was VERY selective of the picture they used, which was the only one of Blair NOT smiling (probably listening to the reporter from The Sun). Here's another picture, taken a few minutes before the one shown above:

In addition, here is the transcript of what Prime Minister Blair said in the joint press appearance yesterday, and I think he is on the same page as the President.

THE PRIME MINISTER: First of all, let me just make it clear, as I said to you yesterday, it's for the Palestinians to elect the people that they choose to elect. But if we're going to make progress, we need people that we can negotiate with, who are serious about negotiating around the issues of security and political reform necessary for the peace process to work.

So this is no question of us going in and saying to the Palestinians, look, we're going to run your election. But it is a question of us saying, if we want this peace process to work there are certain clear preconditions. One, we've got to have leadership we can negotiate with that is serious about peace and resists and totally rejects terrorism.

Two, we've got to have a security infrastructure in Palestine that has integrity. And, three, we've got to have political institutions capable of giving rise to the viable Palestinian state that we believe should be the outcome of this process.

So if in the end you want, as we want, an Israeli state that is confident about its own security and a viable Palestinian state, those are the preconditions. For Israel to be confident, it's got to have a negotiating partner that is serious about tackling terrorism.

Now, that is, I think, the essence of it. So, you know, it's not a question of saying we're going to tell people who they elect or not elect -- that's for them. But it's for us to say the consequences of electing people who aren't serious negotiating partners is that we can't move this forward.

Q And that's Arafat you're talking about --

THE PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, as I said to you yesterday, we've had a situation over the past few years -- and I've tried as hard as anyone, I think I've had 30 different meetings with Chairman Arafat over the past few years. But as I said to you yesterday, you've got a situation where we have not been able to make progress and there has been an attitude towards terrorism that is inconsistent with the notion of Israel's security.

The complete transcript of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair's comments to the press are available at The White House web site

I'll go with that in the interim:

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