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Sharon, Bush Agree to Maintain Pressure on Arafat
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| U.S. President George W.
Bush shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon |
By
S.M. Khalid, IOL Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb.7 (IslamOnline) - Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. President George W. Bush said late Thursday
that they would continue to isolate embattled Palestinian Authority President
Yasser Arafat until attacks by Palestinian resistance groups against Israelis
ceased.
Sharon, whose hardline government has declared Arafat "irrelevant,"
told reporters during a brief question-and-answer session at the White House
that the Palestinian leader "must be pressured into introducing an
alternative leadership in the territories."
"Arafat is an obstacle to peace," Sharon told reporters for
IslamOnline and other news agencies in the Oval Office. "Arafat has a
strategy of terror and has formed a coalition of terror."
The hardline Israeli leader met recently with three top Palestinian leaders,
including Arafat's top lieutenants, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as "Abu Mazen";
security chief Mohamed Dahlan and Mohamed Rashid. Israeli leaders have publicly
speculated about the three as successors to Arafat.
In addition, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met in Washington with
Palestinian Parliament speaker Ahmed Qurei, also known as "Abu Ala."
Arafat approved all recent talks with both the Americans and the Israelis. And
although he, for the first time, publicly speculated about his possible
successors, he has given no indication that he intends to resign.
While Bush did not publicly endorse Sharon's appeal for Arafat to be replaced,
he repeated his demand that the Palestinian leader must do more to end attacks
against Israelis.
"He [Arafat] must take serious action to combat terrorism," said Bush,
who has refused to meet with the Palestinian leader. "Mr. Arafat has heard
from us. I can't be any more clear. He must do everything in his power to fight
terrorism."
The U.S. president cited the recent Karine A affair, in which Israeli naval
forces commandeered a 50-ton shipment of arms that was allegedly bound for Gaza.
Arafat has denied Israeli charges that he ordered or knew of the delivery of the
weapons.
Both Sharon and Bush expressed sympathy for the deteriorating plight of average
Palestinians now under increased Israeli military siege and occupation in the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
"There are a lot of folks who are suffering because of the activities of a
few," Bush told reporters. He said he was "deeply concerned"
after reading stories and seeing photos of Palestinian parents facing
starvation, or those who were unable to send their children to school.
However, Bush placed the onus on this situation on the 17-month "Al-Aqsa
Intifada," not Israel's 35-year military occupation of the West Bank, the
Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. At least 950 Palestinians and 230 Palestinians
have been killed in the uprising, which began after Sharon's high-profile visit
to Jerusalem's Haram al-Sharif in September 2000.
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| Bush and
Sharon share address press during Oval Office session |
Bush said his administration was prepared to send more than $300 million in
assistance to non-governmental organizations addressing humanitarian needs of
the Palestinians.
Sharon repeated demands that there must be a cessation in attacks by Palestinian
resistance groups against Israeli occupation forces and settlers. He also said
he would be ready to resume negotiations on a settlement only after Arafat ended
public incitement against Israel, arrested "militants" and disarmed
resistance groups.
"Israel is committed to peace," Sharon told reporters. "At the
end of the process, I believe there will be a Palestinian state, but only at the
end, and it won't be established though terror. My role is to defend and protect
the citizens of Israel."
Bush said his administration also supported the idea of a Palestinian state, but
one that he said was created through negotiations and recognized the right of
Israel to exist.
Even before Sharon's late afternoon visit to the White House, Israeli Defense
Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer created a stir when he spoke with Israeli
reporters after meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Ben-Eliezer said Cheney and Rice told him that talking with Arafat was a
"waste of time." But he also said that Rice told Israel that its
policy of continuing to restrict Arafat to Ramallah would strengthen, rather
than weaken Arafat.
The White House, however, did not endorse Sharon's recommendation to sever
contacts with the Palestinian Authority or place Tanzim and Force-17, two groups
within Arafat's Fatah organization, on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.
Sharon later attended a dinner with Cheney and other senior administration
officials in Washington.
In addition, Bush told reporters that Cheney would soon travel to the Middle
East, including visits to Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The U.S. vice
president is not scheduled to visit the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, and is not
expected to meet with any Palestinian officials.
Bush said Cheney would be looking regional leaders "in the eye and letting
them know that when we say we're going to fight terror, we mean it. The vice
president can deliver the message to many important world leaders that our
government is absolutely committed to fighting terror and we expect people to
join us in doing so."
Additional reporting for IslamOnline by Neveen Salem and Ayesha Ahmad
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