13 May 2003
Bush Pleased Efforts On Middle East Peace Have Begun
(White House Report, May 12, 2003: Middle East; Iraq) (590)
Asked for President Bush's assessment of Secretary of State Colin
Powell's discussions in the Middle East over the weekend with
Palestinian and Israeli leaders, White House Press Secretary Ari
Fleischer said Bush "is pleased that the efforts on the road map are
now beginning."
"He wants both parties to focus on what they should do," Fleischer
said May 12 while briefing reporters aboard Air Force One en route to
Omaha, Nebraska. "He wants the Israelis to focus on what steps they
need to take, and he wants the Palestinians to focus on what steps the
Palestinians need to take. That's the way to have success."
"What's important here now is the process is beginning in earnest,"
Fleischer said. "It is an historically different process, a process
that's marred by ups and downs, by progress and failures. Now the
process is beginning in earnest, and that's good."
He said Bush has been having briefings on the progress of Powell's
trip, which began May 9.
Powell made stops in Israel, the West Bank and Jordan May 10-11 and
proceeded to Egypt May 12 before arriving in Saudi Arabia May 13. In
the next three days he will visit Russia, Bulgaria, and Germany. His
agenda in meetings with leaders in those countries includes bilateral
and trans-Atlantic relations, as well as consultations with them in
their capacity as UN Security Council members on the liberation and
reconstruction of Iraq. Fleischer said the president looks forward to
a full report from Powell when he returns May 16.
Bush has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit him in
Washington on May 20. The two leaders plan to discuss the efforts to
move ahead toward a peace settlement between Israelis and
Palestinians, as well as a range of bilateral and regional issues,
Fleischer said in a May 9 statement.
Asked when Bush would meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas, Fleischer replied "We'll keep you posted."
Secretary Powell said in a May 12 interview with Israel Television
Channel Two that when President Bush meets with Prime Minister Sharon
next week, he plans to speak with Sharon in "very open,
straightforward, honest, candid terms about settlement activity and
settlements in general." The secretary said President Bush is firmly
committed to the vision he enunciated on June 24, 2002 of two-states,
Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace.
WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS ON CHANGES IN U.S. RECONSTRUCTION TEAM IN IRAQ
Asked to comment on the changes in the U.S. reconstruction team in
Iraq, with the arrival in Iraq of Ambassador L. Paul Bremer as the top
U.S. civilian administrator there, taking over from retired General
Jay Garner, who came to Iraq April 21, Fleischer responded:
"(N)umber one, General Garner is there for another few weeks. Two, it
was always anticipated, as was said when Ambassador Bremer was named,
that a senior official was going to go in with an overarching view of
all areas. For the next couple of weeks General Garner will continue
his efforts on the day to day reconstruction," Fleischer said.
"(F)rom the President's point of view, he thinks that we have a good
team on the ground. He never ruled out changes to the team. And his
focus is on the actual reconstruction efforts and the efforts to
improve security for people not only in Baghdad, but throughout the
country."
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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