How many US governments are there?

WASHINGTON - U.S. diplomats are meeting with top Palestinian officials, even as the Bush administration calls for Arafat's ouster.

Among the diplomats is Ronald Schlicher, who heads the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, the main contact point for the Palestinians with the United States in the absence of formal relations.

A senior U.S. official said Schlicher was likely to have "a full range of contacts" with the Palestinian Authority whether or not he sees the Palestinian leader.

Bush called Monday for Arafat's removal, saying the Palestinians should be led toward statehood by those "not compromised by terror."

Arafat subsequently denied that Bush was referring to him, and a close aide, Nabil Shaath, said Arafat would stand for re-election.

A senior U.S. official, who was with Bush at economics talks in Canada, said Wednesday that the United States would not interfere if Arafat won a free election.

But there would be consequences in the Palestinians' drive for a state, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. There must be a change in leadership to move forward, the official said.

Bush, meanwhile, again sought to exclude Arafat, even if he won re-election as head of the Palestinian Authority.

"I meant what I said," Bush said at a news conference. "There needs to be change."

And turning up the heat on Arafat, Bush said he "won't be putting money into a society" dominated by corrupt leaders. Two senior officials said he was referring to the promise of a robust international aid package if democratic reforms are enacted by Palestinians - not the $100 million in humanitarian aid currently going to Palestinians, which they said is not in jeopardy.

At the same time, the State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said meetings with Palestinian leaders were continuing.

"We deal with the leadership, the people who are responsible and who we think have a continuing responsibility to push forward, to control the violence, to make lives safer," Boucher said.

Powell confers with Saudi FM Secretary of State Colin Powell conferred Thursday with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on implementing President George W. Bush's proposal for a Palestinian state within three years.

They spoke on the telephone after what a U.S. senior official described as a "positive statement" by the foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, in Jiddah.

They want to move forward together, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan , is expected to return to his post in Washington for talks with Powell, but no meeting has been scheduled yet.

Saudi Arabia has its own peace plan, endorsed by the Arab League. It calls for Israel to withdraw from all of the West Bank, Gaza and part of Jerusalem - and does not call for the ouster of Yasser Arafat as the Palestinian leader, as Bush did on Monday.

Bush has made reform of the Palestinian Authority a precondition to U.S. support for establishing a state. Arab governments want an immediate start on negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of establishing the state promptly and compelling Israel to relinquish territory.

But a top Palestinian official, Hassan Abdel Rahman, said it was not possible to have reform and elections under an Israeli curfew on the West Bank and "there is practically no freedom of movement for anyone."

Rahman, the senior Palestinian official in the United States, said Bush talked about his vision but did not say how to achieve his objectives.

"The situation on the ground has to be changed for any reform to be achieved," Rahman said in an interview.

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Nah, this is much ado about nothing. We called for reform, and expect results, but nothing can be done immediately. We can still talk to them, even if we declare them an enemy!

But Bush's points are being misconstrued in the media. Bush said that to move forward with us, there needs to be real change. The onus is on them. They can keep Arafat and the PA if they want to, but they will have to deal with the consequences which includes no money from us, and no sympathy for the suffering he himself heaps upon them.

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