04 June 2003
Now Is the Time to Work for Palestinian State, Bush Says
(President's statement at Sharm el-Sheikh meeting with Arab leaders)
(580)
President Bush told Arab leaders meeting with him at Sharm el-Sheikh,
Egypt, June 3 that "the world needs to have a Palestinian state that
is free and at peace."
The president said his government "will work with all parties
concerned to achieve that vision. I believe now is the time to work to
achieve the vision."
Joining in the meeting were Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's
King Abdullah, Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah bin Abdulaziz, Bahrain's
King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas.
Following is a transcript of Bush's opening comments at the meeting:
(begin transcript)
Office of the Press Secretary
June 3, 2003
Remarks by the President at Multilateral Meeting with Arab Leaders
Movenpick Conference Center
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
1:50 P.M. (Local)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, Mr. President, thank you very much for hosting
this important meeting. I want to thank the leaders for coming, Your
Majesties and His Royal Highness. Prime Minister Abbas, I want to
thank you and your delegation for coming, as well.
I'm the kind of person who, when I say something, I mean it. I mean
that the world needs to have a Palestinian state that is free and at
peace. And, therefore, my government will work with all parties
concerned to achieve that vision.
I believe now is the time to work to achieve the vision. All of us
have responsibilities to achieve the vision. You, sir, have got a
responsibility, and you've assumed it. I want to work with you, as do
the other leaders here.
We must not allow few people, a few killers, a few terrorists to
destroy the dreams and the hopes of the many. Israel has got
responsibilities. Israel must deal with the settlements. Israel must
make sure there's a continuous (*contiguous) territory that the
Palestinians can call home.
The leaders at the table have got a responsibility. The biggest
responsibility that they have, it seems like to me, is to fight off
any source of funding to terror; is to prevent the terrorists from
gaining a foothold. I know that is the commitment of the leaders here,
I have talked to them about that. It's in their own self-interests to
fight off terror. It's in their own self-interests to enable the
Palestinian state to emerge.
So this is an historic meeting. It's the beginning of a long process
and a tough process. But no matter how difficult it is, you have my
commitment that I will expend the energy and effort necessary to move
the process forward.
I believe that, as I told the Crown Prince, the Almighty God has
endowed each individual on the face of the earth with -- that expects
each person to be treated with dignity. This is a universal call. It's
the call of all religions, that each person must be free and treated
with respect. And it is with that call that I feel passionate about
the need to move forward, so that the world can be more peaceful, more
free and more hopeful.
Mr. President, thank you for convening this meeting. Tomorrow we've
got important meetings, as well. This is the beginning of a process
where all of us must not allow the few to destroy the hopes of the
many.
May God bless our work. (Applause.)
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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