Bush and Blair vague on how to revive Middle East peace process

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 short on details of 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.
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 whether if he would agree to host a Middle East conference.
"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.
"We'll do whatever it takes to get a peace," Bush said, a comment echoed by Blair on the day Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was buried in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Neither Bush nor Blair mentioned Arafat.
The pledge "is coming at a time when you have the end of an era, so it certainly marks a potential," said Dennis Ross, special US envoy to the Middle East under former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton.
"What today reflects is a commitment. Now everyone will watch to see how you act on that commitment," Ross said.
Bush and Blair outlined a general, five-point strategy committing to the two-state vision of Israel and a Palestinian state and promising to support Palestinians as they select a new president within 60 days.
They pledged to mobilize international support for a stronger economy and security in a Palestinian state, endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Israeli settlements from Gaza, and claimed these steps would "lay the basis for more rapid progress" on the road map to Middle East peace.
The Bush administration stopped short of appointing an envoy to oversee the dossier.
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.
A Middle East specialist said Palestinians should choose a new leader as soon as possible.
"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 so-called road map to peace, an approach backed by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
It clarifies, however, a comment from May when Bush said the 2005 date was premature given circumstances on the ground.
Arafat died of an undisclosed illness in France last week 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 - 17:31 GMT - AFP