Free Republic

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union may try to draw up a media code of conduct to avoid a repeat of the furor caused by the publication across Europe of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, an EU commissioner said on Thursday. In an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said the charter would encourage the media to show "prudence" when covering religion. "The press will give the Muslim world the message: We are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression," he told the newspaper. "We can and we are ready...

US President George Bush sent a letter on Tuesday to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia(Abu Ala), in which he asked him to support Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. "If the plan is implemented, there is a real chance to move forward toward peace and toward the realization of Palestinian national aspirations," Bush said in the three-page letter to the Palestinian Prime Minister . "The building of the institutions of a Palestinian state could then begin in earnest, in Gaza". According to Bush, "The United States will not prejudice the outcome of final status negotiations,...

Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat has responded to US President George Bush's speech, saying "Bush understood that international agreements and direct talks are the guarantee for continuation of negotiations. The Palestinians are very encouraged by Bush's declaration, since only the Palestinians and the Israelis can discuss their conflict and come up with solutions. The pledges Bush made to Sharon are not legally valid".

The White House announced Thursday that United States National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, will meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia in Germany on May 17. Rice will be the highest ranking U.S. official to meet the Palestinian prime minister. A source in the White House said that Rice will call on Qureia to recognize that Sharon's disengagement plan offers a historic opportunity to advance the Road Map peace plan.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Your Majesty, welcome once again to the White House. I appreciate your friendship, and I appreciate the opportunity to hear your thoughts on a range of issues that face your country, and mine, at this time of challenge and opportunity in the Middle East. The economic relationship between our two countries has never been stronger. We continue to increase the ties of trade and investment, creating new opportunities for both our people. The free trade agreement between Jordan and the United States is a model for the region, as my government works to build a Middle East free...

World Bank planning aid plan for Palestinians for the reconstruction of areas Israel will pull out of (Israel Radio)

The European Union is providing nearly US$40 million in assistance to the Palestinians for government reforms and emergency economic aid, an EU official said on Saturday. The money will be used to support small and medium-sized businesses hurt by the conflict, judicial reforms and to finance national and local elections that are to be held in 2004. Three years of fighting with Israel have devastated the Palestinian economy. Roadblocks and military travel restrictions that Israel says are needed to stop suicide bombers and other attackers have kept many Palestinians from reaching jobs. In some parts of the West Bank and...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. administration is to establish a channel of communication with the brokers of the Geneva Accord and will follow its progress, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed Friday during a meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian co-authors of the unofficial peace plan in Washington. Powell told Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo that he would discuss the initiative with President George W. Bush in the near future, and the two would work out the American stance on the issue. Speaking after their meetings with Powell, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York, Beilin and...

White House spokesman: President Bush has no problem with Colin Powell meeting Geneva Accord authors (Reuters)

Addressing delegates of the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities meeting in Jerusalem, Kurtzer said that Washington was not opposed to the West Bank security fence per se, rather on the route of the project, which is projected to diverge from the pre-1967 war Green Line border eastward into West Bank territory. "Our challenge is not to determine if the road map is alive or not alive," Kurtzer said. "Our challenge is whether or not the two sides can begin to flesh out the content of the road map." He added that the road map in its current stage...

Russia will soon call on the United Nations Security Council to adopt the road map as the accepted international plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moscow also proposes that the Quartet (Russia, the UN, the European Union, and the U.S.) be acknowledged as a mediator in the dispute. The United States is expected to back the proposal, which should be approved without difficulty. Russia brought up the proposal several months ago, at which time Washington deferred support for it. Now, in view of Russia's support for Security Council resolutions on Iraq, the U.S. government is not inclined to oppose Russia's...

Senior U.S. official: Israel promised to consult U.S. before deciding to expel Arafat from the Palestinian territories (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) said he remained committed to the so-called roadmap to Middle East peace and called on the Palestinians to battle extremists who target Israel with violence. Asked whether Palestinian prime minister-designate Ahmed Qorei would help bring peace to the region, Bush replied: "Time will tell." "The roadmap is still there," despite a renewed cycle of deadly violence pitting Palestinians against Israelis, Bush told reporters in the Oval Office as he met Wednesday with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.