WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are optimistic about reviving the Middle East peace process following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but vague on how to do it.
"I believe we've got a great chance to establish a Palestinian state. I would like to see it done in four years. I think it is possible," Bush declared Friday in a joint press conference with Blair after a White House summit with his main European ally.
The newly re-elected president was circumspect about the usefulness of an international conference to kick-start negotiations.
"I'm all for conferences. Just so long as the conferences produce something," Bush said, giving the impression that he did not think they would.
After the two leaders spoke, State Department officials said the United States was looking at a new round of diplomacy, including a Middle East trip by Secretary of State Colin Powell, to revive the peace process.
But Bush gave no sign of concrete agreements to advance the peace process, dodging a question on whether he would push for a freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and hedging his bets on if he would agree to hosting a Middle East conference.
The US and British leaders stressed that Palestinians must establish democratic institutions and insisted that elections must be held in two months to choose a replacement for Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority.
A Middle East specialist here said a shorter timetable would be even better.
"I think if the Palestinians move fast, even to get to the elections before the 60 days, it will serve them better," said professor Amaney Jamal of Princeton University.
"The longer there is to the elections, the more other political leaders and political elites will try to figure out where they stand in the political process and will vie for preeminence and leadership," Jamal said.
"The issue is how you can move fast to elections, especially when most of the West Bank is under reoccupation by the Israelis," Jamal said.
"You will need the Israelis and the Americans to really see the advantage of elections and take opportunity of the political climate that now exists on the ground before like major players emerge, before Hamas and other political leaders are able to silence what exists right now," he said.
Bush appeared cognizant of the opportunity and the necessity of Israeli cooperation.
"I believe that the responsibility for peace is going to rest with the Palestinian people's desire to build a democracy and Israel's willingness to help build a democracy," Bush said.
The 2009 time frame for creation of a Palestinian state backs away from the initial 2005 date envisioned during aborted 2003 talks based on the road map to peace.
It clarifies, however, a comment from May when Bush said the 2005 date was premature given circumstances on the ground.
Bush said he would work with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership on implementing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement from 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank.
The Palestinians fear Bush will not push Sharon for a withdrawal from the rest of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which they hope to make the capital of a future state.
Neither Bush nor Blair mentioned the name of Arafat, who died of an undisclosed illness in France and was buried Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he had spent the last several years shunned by both the United States and Israel.
Bush said the choosing of a new Palestinian president "is the first step in creating lasting, democratic political institutions through which a free Palestinian people will elect local and national leaders.
"We're committed to the success of these elections and we stand ready to help.
"I look forward to working with the Palestinian leadership that is committed to fighting terror and committed to the cause of democratic reform."
11/13/2004 - 11:18 GMT - AFP