05 December 2001
Bush, Norway's Prime Minister Discuss Middle East, Afghanistan
(Bush defends his decision to establish military tribunals) (730)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington - President Bush and Norway's Prime Minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik discussed the Middle East situation and Afghanistan as they
sat down for talks in the Oval Office December 5.
Both leaders agreed that Palestine Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
must act now to arrest and bring to justice those who use terror as a
weapon to derail peace.
Arafat "must show leadership. Now is his time. And other nations
around the world that are interested in peace must encourage Mr.
Arafat, must insist that Mr. Arafat use everything in his power to
prevent further terrorist attacks in Israel," Bush said.
Norway's prime minister said earlier in the day he had spoken by phone
with Arafat and with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and had
urged them both to halt the violence.
"I urged Arafat to do his utmost to stop the terror, to arrest the
people behind the terror. It's time for him now to show leadership. I
also urged Prime Minister Sharon to avoid further escalation of
violence, because I am afraid that this will bring us into a terrible
situation, which can end up in a war," Bondevik said.
"Now they have stopped the bombing of Palestinian targets for the last
26 hours. I hope that this cease-fire will continue, and that there
will be a possibility after some time to again establish contacts
between the parties in the Middle East. Because the alternative is so
bad, to all of us."
On Afghanistan, Bush and Bondevik both agreed that progress has been
made at the talks in Bonn among Afghan groups on the formation of an
interim government for that country.
Bush said "Our government is pleased with the progress being made,"
and said it also is pleased that the interim government being formed
will include women. "That's a major change for that part of the world
and a positive change," he said.
Bondevik said he welcomed the positive outcome of the meeting in Bonn,
which, he said, "will pave the way for a political solution for
Afghanistan, hopefully also for the women in the country, and also for
reconstructions assistance and humanitarian aid."
Norway will play a key role as the chair of the Afghanistan support
group from the first of January, next year, Bondevik added.
Both Bush and Bondevik noted the death of three U.S. soldiers killed
December 5 in Afghanistan when a satellite-guided U.S. bomb missed its
target near Kandahar.
"I want the families to know that they died for a noble and just
cause; that the fight against terror is noble and it's just," the
President said.
Norway's Prime Minister said he too wanted to express his sympathy and
solidarity with the American people.
"We stand firmly by you in fighting terrorism," he said, noting that
Norway has offered contributions to the military operations in
Afghanistan.
To mark the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Bush
announced that the U.S. national anthem will be played at the White
House on December 11 at 8:46 a.m., Washington time, the exact time the
first hijacked commercial airliner struck the World Trade Center.
Bush encouraged other nations to conduct similar ceremonies to send a
clear signal to the terrorists that the United States and its friends
and allies will not forget what took place on September 11.
Asked by a reporter to defend his decision to establish military
tribunals to try suspected terrorists, the President said the United
States will not forgo the rule of law, but said that if for national
security reasons it is necessary, he will use such a tribunal to try
suspects.
"If we capture an al Qaeda representative, if we capture a murderer,
and in order to convict that murderer it would require us giving means
of how we knew he was guilty that would jeopardize the security of the
United States, he'll be tried in a military tribunal," the President
said.
"My job is to protect the United States people from further attack.
And that's exactly what I'm going to do and, at the same time, bring
al Qaeda to justice."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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