15 April 2002
Sharon Tells Bush Israel to Withdraw From Jenin and Nablus
(Bush calls Sharon)(1130)
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer briefed reporters late
afternoon April 15 to report that Bush had phoned Israel's President
Ariel Sharon.
Following is the transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
April 15, 2002
PRESS GAGGLE BY ARI FLEISCHER
The Crowne Plaza Hotel Cedar Rapids, Iowa
5:00 P.M. CDT
MR. FLEISCHER: Okay. Let me give you a quick report. The President
just finished speaking with Prime Minister Sharon. They spoke for
approximately 15 minutes. The Prime Minister confirmed to the
President that Israel will withdraw from Jenin and Nablus within a
week -- Jenin will be sooner.
The President expressed his belief that this will increase the
prospects to bring peace to the region. The President urged the Prime
Minister to consider the human dimensions and to improve human
conditions throughout the West Bank.
The President also affirmed the importance of the Powell mission. And
the two discussed the ongoing importance of the Secretary's efforts to
help bring peace to the region. And they reiterated the importance of
fighting terrorism worldwide.
The President also said to the Prime Minister that he will press hard
for all parties to understand their responsibilities. And the
President again affirmed the United States' interest in peace in the
region. That was the phone call; it lasted about 15 minutes. The
President also said -- in other phone calls, the tremendous faith he
has in the job Secretary Powell is doing in the region. This is a very
tough assignment in a very difficult region but, obviously, important
steps are being taken and that was the purpose of the President's
reaching out to Prime Minister Sharon today.
Q: He placed the call?
MR. FLEISCHER: President Bush placed the call.
Q: What does the President feel about that? I mean --
MR. FLEISCHER: The President thinks this is a positive, that Israel
has said it will continue withdrawals, it is, the withdrawals are
continuing.
They talked about Bethlehem a little bit, as well, and talked about
the special circumstances in Bethlehem, and there's a lot of hard work
being led by Secretary Powell right now to resolve what's happening in
the Church of Nativity. And those efforts are going to continue.
Q: That's still far short of what the President wants, isn't it?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, the efforts are continuing and this is a
positive development today. And the President called the Prime
Minister, the Prime Minister confirmed to the President directly on
the phone that, indeed, Israel was taking these actions in Nablus and
Jenin.
Q: But, Ari, the withdrawals are not coming without delay, as the
President wanted. You would concede that, would you not?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, all parties in the region have a responsibility
to do what the President said. But the purpose of the President's
call, and one of the things the President said to the Prime Minister
was, these actions, in the President's opinion, will increase the
prospects to bring peace to the region. This is a region in which each
party is waiting for the other party to go first. And the President
believes what's important is for each party to say to themselves, what
do we need to do to bring peace to the region. And if each party
focuses on what they need to do, it'll make it easier for peace to be
brought to the region. Israel has taken this action today.
Q: Ari, was there any discussion of this peace conference that has
been -- ministerial level peace conference. Did that come up, between
the two of them? And the statement that the President made in support
of the Powell mission, was that intended in any way to relieve any
questions or doubts about whether there was any daylight between the
President's goals and he --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think as you know, you've heard this for a week
now, that the President asked the Secretary to undertake this
difficult mission and provided him with maximum flexibility, so the
Secretary, himself, would have maximum influence. And I think you're
already starting to see the good results of the Secretary's hard work.
On the question of -- on the question of the conference, it did come
up. There will be additional consultations. As you know, the President
has been open to a variety of ideas, and will continue to be open to a
variety of ideas, but that's about it, in terms of what the
conversation --
Q: The President, himself, expressed some doubts in that interview
with the British correspondent about -- a little more than a week ago
-- about the utility of peace conferences.
MR. FLEISCHER: But as you so aptly put it, Mr. Sanger, this was a
ministerial proposal.
Q: Ari, when the President talked about improving the human conditions
in the West Bank, what specifically is he referring to?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, if you recall, the President has spoken out many
times before about the humanitarian condition of the Palestinian
people. The United States provides aid and money to help the
Palestinian people. It is something that the United States cares a
great deal about. And the President is worried about the humanitarian
conditions, the education, the health care, the very issues that the
Palestinians need to take to help improve the lives of the people
there.
Q: That's just sort of a general statement. I'm wondering if there's
any particular concern about what has happened in the last two weeks
in the West Bank, which has drawn the attention of many human rights
and humanitarian organizations who say many of the parts of the
Palestinian refugee camps are now in complete shambles.
MR. FLEISCHER: Certainly, there's no question the events of the last
two weeks lend further reason for people to be concerned about the
Palestinian human condition in the West Bank.
Q: Ari, you spoke of the special -- you said, to discuss special
circumstances of Bethlehem. Does that mean the President concedes
there are special circumstances that would justify Israeli troops
remaining there?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, the special circumstances are that as soon as the
situation at the Church of Nativity can be resolved, I think the
President believes will be rapid progress by Israel on following in
Bethlehem what they are doing in Jenin in Nablus. So in other words,
the Church of Nativity problem has got to get resolved. That's one of
the things that Secretary Powell is working very hard on, right now.
All right, thanks, everybody.
END 5:06 P.M. CDT
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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